Mumbai, July 10 (IANS) Despite mixed reviews for its weak storyline, Akshay Kumar and Kareena Kapoor starrer romantic comedy “Kambakkht Ishq” has grossed Rs.100 crore (Rs.1 billion) at the box office in its first week.
Distributed worldwide by Eros with around 2,000 prints worldwide, “Kambakkht…” hit more than 1,400 screens in India and about 600 overseas in a combination of prints and digital format.

Directed by debutant Sabbir Khan, it released across India as well as in Pakistan, Britain, US, Australia, Europe, South Africa, Fiji Islands, the Middle East and Malaysia, among others.

Released July 3, the film opened to extraordinary advance bookings courtesy its unprecedented buzz and has brought a new lease of life for Akshay’s flagging career after two major duds “Chandni Chowk To China” and “8X10 Tasveer”.

“‘Kambakkht Ishq’ is doing exceedingly well in all the overseas markets. All major markets like US, Gulf, Australia and even Pakistan have shown extraordinary box office performance in first week,” said Pranab Kapadia, president of Eros International in a statement released here Friday.

Kapadia looks after Eros’ distribution in Europe and Africa.

Nandu Ahuja, the senior vice president who looks after distribution in the domestic market for the company, says after the overwhelming weekend collection, the movie is going steady.

“The film has remained steady during the week post the stupendous opening weekend. The film is continuing to show fabulous collections and we are sure the film will continue to enjoy a fantastic run,” he said.

Co-produced by Sajid Nadiadwala and Sunil A. Lulla, the film was made on a budget of Rs.62 crore (Rs.620 million) including print and advertisement costs and has grossed around Rs.70 crore (Rs.700 million) in the domestic market and Rs.21 crore (Rs.210 million) overseas.

The music and digital rights of the film have fetched around Rs.10 crore (Rs.100 million)

The film earned around Rs.19 crore (Rs.190 million) worldwide on its opening day.

Apart from the death-defying stunts by Akshay, the film also has much publicised cameos by Hollywood stars like Sylvester Stallone, Brandon Routh and Denise Richards.

There were doubts about the box office prospects of Akshay Kumar starrer 8X10 TASVEER even before it’s release. Reason? The film had seen the least hype for an Akshay Kumar starrer in last 3-4 years and the actor too was underplaying the promotion of the film. As the release date got closer, it was quite obvious that it won’t take a thunderous opening as expected from an Akshay starrer.

Instead it would settle down for a 50-60% opening only and see an increase in collections only if the word of mouth is good.

Well, the box office performance has followed exactly as per the script except for the fact that word of mouth has been poor, something which is bound to adversely impact the final collections of the film. As of now, the film is on extremely shaky grounds with barely average opening at the box office. It could have been acceptable had the film being liked but unfortunately, that hasn’t quite happened with the film’s finale coming in for quite some criticism.

Moreover, what has further worked negatively for 8X10 TASVEER is the very fact that it has neither turned out to be realistic nor hardcore commercial. This means that at the end of the day, neither does the film carry a trademark Nagesh Kukunoor stamp to it nor does it see Akshay Kumar go completely commercial here. To his credit, he does try out something different at this stage of his career where he can afford to experiment. However, what surprises is his acceptance of a script like 8X10 TASVEER where the finale is completely incomprehensible. It is hard to believe how he or Nagesh could have actually okayed the suspense element in the film?

In any case, now that the film is out, it can only lead to ifs and buts. The fact though is that majority of audience has given a Thumbs down to this film which could have possibly bridged the gap for Akshay when it came to choosing between out and out commercial films and experimental cinema. Remainder of the week will show whether the film will meet a fate similar to that of CHANDNI CHOWK TO CHINA or come up with a face saving outcome at the least.