The audience was spoiled for choice this Friday as not one but three films released at the box office. However, none could actually light up the screens. Sunny Deol’s directorial venture Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas that serves as the launchpad for his son Karan Deol’s Bollywood debut opened to a not-so-thrilling start at the box office.
The film is a love story that begins in the breathtaking locales of Manali and culminates in the capital. Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas garnered somewhere between Rs 1.1 to 1.2 crore at the box office. The film should hope to see some growth and should appeal to younger audiences if it wants to stay in the game but it looks like a herculean task. Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas also stars debutante Sahher Bambba. However, the film fared better than the other two releases Prassthanam and The Zoya Factor.
Sanjay Dutt’s Prassthanam was the next best film and did better in single screen theatres, although the collections were still poor. The film failed to keep the cash registers ringing in the multiplexes. The film garnered Rs 75-80 lakhs at the box office.
Prassthanam boasts of a stellar cast including Sanjay Dutt, Jackie Shroff, Ali Fazal, Chunky Panday, Manisha Koirala, Amyra Dastur and Satyajeet Dubey. The film is a political drama and which is a remake of a 2010 Telugu film of the same name. It is a film about warring gangs, political rivals, conniving cops and family secrets.
On the other hand, Sonam Kapoor and Dulquer Salmaan starrer The Zoya Factor opened to a poor start at the box office. The film that released on Friday managed to collect only Rs 65-70 lakhs on its opening day as reported by a trade website. According to reports, the film has performed well only in Kerala. The film picked up Rs 7 lakhs nett in Kerala although more was expected as Dulquer is a huge star down south. Without Kerala, the film has not seen much box office success.
The Zoya Factor is the screen adaptation of Anuja Chauhan’s book of the same name. Sonam plays an advertising executive who is deemed lucky by her family as she was born the exact same moment India won its first World Cup title in 1983. Subsequently, she becomes the lucky charm of the Indian Cricket team. The film also stars Angad Bedi, Sikander Kher and Sanjay Kapoor in the pivotal roles and is directed by Abhishek Sharma.
(Source: Box Office India)