Good Box Office Numbers
Hi Folks,
Namesake has made a strong box office start in the US. Refer the Variety list that came out today
http://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=b_o_weekend&dept=Film
It just crossed the $ 1 million mark. Always a good sign, both from a future of South Asian films in the US and also from Mira and Fox’s point of view. They now have a second one which will more than break even, coming on the heels of Water. The critics verdict on the film is mixed. I have maintained my indifference, but anyone saying that the bottom line does not matter is living in a fool’s paradise.
Namesake’s 17th rank in the US box office should augur well. I don’t expect this to have Monsoon Wedding like numbers or a Karan Johar type, more the Eklavya type and some.
So why my obsession with the box office. Cause boss, the future of the next product depends on the inflow of the present. As a buddy of mine who was showing me around film city in Mumbai, in Dec said,”boss this car that you are sitting in and that driver who is taking you to film city, both need to be paid,” emphasizing the whole need to “be in the black” So cry foul as you may, of commercially oriented houses and the Shah Rukh’s and the Yash Raj’s, etc, etc, the bottom line is the BOTTOM LINE. Even Ram Gopal was way more liked and popular when his films returned a healthy bottom line, than he is now.
And again the bottom line’s definition is distinct for different sceanrios. My definition for the purposes of this write up is, a Return on Investment, aka getting more than what was spent on the film to start with.
Cause let’s face it, a film doing well and liked by the festival folks means only one thing…the festival directors made money off the hard work of the filmmaker…if the audience likes it and pays for it, then that is a direct contribution to the filmamker, cause even if the filmmaker does not make that much of the share, he or she still comes into the “profitable list of filmmakers.”
Ironically once one does become profitable, they are actually looked down on, as opposed to the one who is the “noble, finanacial disaster soul.” Unique are the ways of this world.
And the biggest lie I ever heard …” My film made $8 million and yet I did not see a penny….” Dude and neither was I born yesterday, nor did I come from a village….if your film made $8 miilion, it would have made it to the box office of Variety and Box Office Mojo and Hollywood and Bollywood would have ”scented that out,” and would have lined up outside your house…..so either you are a bullshitting artist….or you need a reality check!!!
Anyway congratulations are in order to Namesake and Mira
Sincerely,
Vivek “like I said it is and should be about the money…rest all ….will come around sooner or later anyway” Kumar
Anurag Kashyap
Abhay Deol
Dibakar Banerjee
Hansal Mehta
Khalid Mohamed
Kundan Shah
Anish Kuruvilla
Jaideep Verma
Manish Gupta
Navdeep Singh
Bhavani Iyer
D. Santosh
Onir
Ashvin Kumar
Ramu Ramanathan
Sudhir Mishra
Pankaj Advani
Revathy
Saurabh Shukla
Shilpa Shukla
Sujoy Ghosh
Suparn Verma
Santosh Sivan
Shashank Ghosh
Shivajee
Pavan Kaul
Partho Sen-Gupta
Prroshant Naryannan
Sam Langoria
Satish Kasetty
Definitely heart congratulations to the whole team behind Namesake. This week as well, the film was the highest per screen earner in the US, second week in a row. Opened just in 6 screens, expanded this week to 41. I think it will go a lot further. This is precisely how Bend It Like Beckham was distributed. The distributors kept it running in the theaters for almost 20 weeks, we all know how well it did. Based on the way the film has held up in its second weekend, I would like to believe that it will equal Monsoon Wedding’s $14M theatrical gross, if not better it, if persisted with for a reasonable amount of time.
hopefully it does well enough (and methinks it will) to the point that she is tagged as “the maker of the namesake” as opposed to “the maker of monsoon wedding”.. not that the latter cloak should be shed by any means.. and i can imagine this would only help her even more with gangsta MD.. (do i hear someone saying “watch out shyamalan”?)
Striker, Shyamalan doesn’t really have any role to play in this picture. His films are about White America, and his sensibility has nothing to do with an Indian thought process. He just happens to have brown skin.
Mira Nair is a class apart. Her films have a global point of view with an Indian sensibility. That makes her very special to Indians, especially those living outside India.
that may be the case, but with shyamalan’s clout and staying power in white america dwindling and mira’s rising slowly.. not to mention mira’s next movie being something mainstream white (and black) america will definitely be attracted to (referring to gangsta MD), it will only pave the way for more [hopefully] quality, and possibly more mainstream, projects for mira. of course her sensibilities are way more indian than shyamalan’s are, so one hopes that she does continue to make movies like the namesake and monsoon wedding which have the indian touch to them.
Mira’s next film is not Gangsta MD. It’s “Shantaram” starring Johnny Depp & Amitabh Bachchan. Gangsta MD has been put on hold till Shantaram is completed.
Excuse me..
I like Mira nair’s works. Salaam bombay is probably one of the best Indian movies about Slum-dwelling kids, little helpless gals in whorehouses and pimps.. She doesn’t contrive things up like Deepa mehta. And unlike the canadian director who is unsophiscated and a prejudiced feminsit in a colonial way..
And Manoj Night Shyamalan is an american. He made one great thriller and one decent film..other movies are mediocre and boring.. A true ‘Namesake’…
BTW I am looking forward to ‘Namesake’ ..for Mira and of course Irfan khan.. Tabu-Irfan khan ‘the pair’ were brilliant in Maqbool…All the more reason to wait for..
‘Mixed’ critical response? A metascore of 82 on metacritic.com indicating ‘universal acclaim’…how is that mixed? http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/namesake
And 80% on Rottentomatoes.com – Which is awesome.
Actually if websites are being quoted (don’t think they mean much anyway..but if they are), then Box Office Mojo gives it a B, which is not an A and not a C, hence mediocre.
Refer:http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=namesake.htm
On the right hand side
And with Shantaram she will finally bring both bollywood n hollywood mainstream big guys together. If works out,will be great.
N thank god!! if not our mumbai filmmkaers then atlesat there r few others who think irfan is not only good actor but is bankable one too.oen lesson that we will never learn i guess.
Phoenix:
Is this Shantaram, based on novel of Gregory David Roberts? Bombay Don’s story?
Yes RK, it is based on the same novel. Amitabh Bachchan is playing Kader bhai.
Vijay: Thats nice. But is not it true that Johny Depp had purchased the rights to make a film on the novel? Is he still the producer? if yes, is he acting also, perhaps role of author himself!
I dont have any follow up of this story, so pls enlighten me:)
@RK…ya the film is based on the same novel. So too many characters n huge cast. Will take quite some time.
Shantaram:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0429087/fullcredits#cast
Vivek, I agree with you 100% about the importance of a good box office. It is essential to survive. Yes, its important to make “good cinema” (the definition of which is highly subjective) but at the same time it’s equally important to make films that will AT LEAST ensure that everyone who worked on your film (cast & crew) get fed and paid.
Anyone who’s worked in the independant scene knows how tough even THAT can be. So if you cater your film to a wider audience to make sure you get your return on investment and everyone from your actors to your distributors are happy, then what the hell is wrong with that???
I heard Mira Nair on NPR this weekend. She said she is working on a Documentary about Beetles stay in Rishikesh in those Vietnam times. I wonder when she is going to make Gangsta MD & Shantaram.
I’m happy that a woman is making Shantaram. After reading that amazing book twice i think it has a high risk of turning into a action flick. Shantaram’s life was more filmy than most action films ever made in hollywood. I hope she gets the emotions out being a woman.
But in my opinion the best guy to have made that movie would have been ALFONSO CUARON. He is a foreigner but comes from a country like India-MEXICO. HE will have a very interesting perspective on it. And currently is one of the 5 best directors making films. CHILDREN OF MEN was mindblowing.
Vijay and Phoenix: Thanks guys
I read on rediff abt Amitabh and Johny Depp, it shd be lethal combination. curiosity level is huge.:)
http://www.rediff.com/movies/2007/mar/21mira.htm
Ya its lethal combo. N m wondering if the Bachchans realised Mira’s touch after namesake. Bcz mira dsprtly wanted abhishek to do namesake. but he chiknd out after saying yes bcz of some love making scene or something like that. n then there was bad blood!! u guys know who will do the talking from bachchan’s side. Anyways,now its Daddy B’s turn. If it works out well, god!!
btw, mira is not directing gangster md. she will be co-producing it. its going on for sure. they r still luking for director.
N ya she was planning that beatles documntry. i think its more about john lenon though.
Phoenix: I heard Meera Nair and Karan Johar saying on KWK, that Abhishek and Rani could not do Namesake because of date clashing with shooting of KANK. She said earlier she wanted actors who knew Bengali.