Vishal Bharadwaj’s adaptation of Shakespeare’s “Hamlet,” “Haider” which was released on October 2 all over India, has grossed Rs 30.25 crore over the week.
The film has been made on a relatively small budget of Rs 37 crore, with Rs 22 crore spent on production and the remaining Rs 15 crore on publicity. Given the rave reviews by critics, “Haider” was expected to do decent business despite the relatively serious story. However, if the box office numbers are any indication, the film’s earnings have been of tragic.
While the makers might have hoped for the critical appreciation the film has received, and Shahid Kapoor (who plays the titular role) can keep his fingers crossed for a National Award, the cast as well as the filmmaker had also anticipated a box office debacle.
Although Haider’s subject as well as the treatment of the film is contrary to any mainstream Bollywood “masala” film, a possible reason for the film failing to set the cash registers ringing was Hrithik Roshan and Katrina Kaif starrer, “Bang Bang!” that released on the same day.
A battle for screens was fought between Fox Studios (makers of Bang Bang!) and UTV Motions Pictures before the release of the films, but in the end after a lot of arm-twisting and haggling with theatre owers, “Bang Bang!” ended up with 4500 screens while “Haider” got only 1,200.
