Eid holidays rarely translate as a relaxing, carefree time for movie stars in this part of the world. To the movie stars, the window of Eid holidays presents one of the biggest business opportunities, and good business in filmdom means war at the box office. It was well anticipated from before that this Eid was going to be an intense duel between superstar Ananta Jalil and Dhallywood’s king Shakib Khan, and it has turned out just as it was expected.Ananta Jalil’s Most Welcome 2 and Shakib Khan’s Hero: The Superstar locked horns since Eid day, and as far as the race at the box office is concerned, it looks like Jalil is winning round one. Ananta Jalil and Shakib Khan, however, were not the only contenders for box office supremacy, as Bappy starred in the two other films that were released on Eid – Honeymoon and I Don’t Care.
Feedback of cinema authorities revealed that even though Hero: The Superstar is doing good business, it is Most Welcome 2 that is the runaway winner at the box office till now.
Joy, coordinator of Balaka Cine Worlds told New Age that Most Welcome 2 is doing great business there. ‘Most Welcome 2’s business is splendid and all the tickets for the next few days have already been sold out,’ said Joy.
Star Cineplex is screening Most Welcome 2 with few other Hollywood films. All the tickets of Most Welcome 2 had been sold in advance till the fifth day of Eid at Star Cineplex. ‘It is nice to see that people are watching Bengali films like Most Welcome 2 with great interest,’ said Opu Mahbub, a ticket seller of Star Cineplex. He also opined that one major reason behind Jalil’s Box Office success is that he has been able to pull a huge portion of the urban crowd into cinemas, who usually don’t watch Bangla films.
One interesting point one can notice about all four films released this Eid is the fact that they all sport English titles, which has become a new trend in Dhallywood. Shakib Khan, who enjoyed unipolar dominance of Box Office until Ananta Jalil emerged on big screen has debuted as a producer with Hero; and as if to reestablish his superstardom in Dhallywood has come with the title ‘Hero: The Superstar’. Whatever the reason is for Shakib Khan’s movie title, he finds himself trailing Ananta Jalil at the box office, as Most Welcome 2 is boasting advanced booking in cinemas.
Most Welcome 2 has been shot at many exotic locations in countries like Thailand and UK. Produced by Monsoon Films, the film hit around 75 screens during the Eid festival.
Shyamoli cinema was packed on second day of Eid with visibly long queues of viewers for Most Welcome 2 at the ticket counter. The demand in fact was so high that many viewers purchased tickets originally priced at Taka 150 for Taka 300.
Merazuddin Rana, who works in a private university and watched MW 2 at Shyamoli Cinema, told New Age that Ananta’s films are always a source of pure pleasure. ‘It’s really great fun. Everything about Ananta’s films, like his acting, special effects, dialogues and actions are thoroughly entertaining,’ added Rana.
Din Islam Sumon, a merchandiser, who also watched the film on the same day, said that he only came to watch Ananta Jalil as he has heard a lot about him. ‘I wanted to watch a Jalil film to have an idea why he is talked about so much,’ said Sumon.
On the other hand, Shakib Khan starrer Hero: The Superstar is being screened in around 90 cinemas across the nation. In the film, Shakib Khan is seen romancing Boby and Apu Biswas in female lead roles.
Samsuddin, public relations officer of Ananda Cinema Hall in Farmgate, told New Age that they are screening Hero: The Superstar and receiving really good reception.
Bappy’s Honeymoon released in 88 cinemas across the country while I Don’t Care hit 40 cinemas. Honeymoon is being screened at Purnima Cinema Hall in Karwan Bazar. Belal, PRO of that cinema, informed New Age that the film did well on the first three days of Eid but plummeted afterwards.
-With New Age input
