By Hindustan Times
If Vidya Balan-starrer Kahaani has catapulted director Sujoy Ghosh into the massive league, it has also benefited much-neglected single-screen theatres within the city that experience done roaring business for 3 weeks now. "I MYSELF feel that Kahaani will do business worth Rs 3.15 crore to Rs.3.45 crore (over $670,000) in Kolkata. Bollywood films are hardly screened in rural areas, however the movie is truly doing well in Kolkata and its outskirts," said Arijit Dutta, proprietor of Priya Cinemas and vice-president of the Film Federation of India.
Ever since multiplexes came up within the city, the footfall at single screen theatres had thinned drastically. But Vidya's Kahaani, the gripping tale of a girl on the lookout for her husband, is this kind of hit that it's single-handedly luring audiences to those halls.
It's a boon for single-screen theatres which can be suddenly minting money. Some such theatres are Jaya-1, Malancha, Elite, Mitra, Ajanta-1, New Empire, Menoka and Ashoka.
The cost of tickets at Jaya-1 ranges from Rs.70 for the rear stall to Rs.110 for the balcony on week days. The price at Ajanta-1 ranges from Rs.60 to Rs.80 for the rear stall and Rs 100-120 for the balcony dependent on show timings.
"Kahaani is doing superb. Within the first week, the sale was 70%, within the second 85% and within the third week it's 75%. The movie is doing a lot better than other movies that have released across the same time," said Manik Bhowmick of Jaya cinema in Lake Town.
Kahaani is about within the backdrop of Kolkata and Vidya plays a software programmer, who involves the town from London searching for her husband, who's the daddy of her unborn child. The thriller also features Bengali actor Parambrata Chatterjee, Saswata Chatterjee, Dhritiman Chatterjee and Nawazuddin Siddiqui in prominent roles.
Arijit Dutta, proprietor of Priya Cinemas and an actor himself, feels if a movie is nice it's sure to do well in single screens.
"If a film is sweet it's guaranteed to do well in single screens because there are more single screens in West Bengal than multiplexes. As a result of high capacity of single screen theatres the footfall is way higher than multiplexes. The similar thing happened with Salman Khan's Dabaang," said Dutta.
Released March 9, the film goes houseful in most places and the whole collection up to now is Rs 54.55 crore.
Kahaani has also proved wrong folks who said that Vidya's The Dirty Picture triumphed as it was stuffed with skin show. Despite no skin show and no glamour, it has rocked the box office, way to Vidya's powerful performance, the storyline and Ghosh's deft treatment to the script.
The craze for the movie is such that the Monalisa Guest House in south Kolkata's Sarat Bose Road which featured within the movie by playing host to the primary protagonist Vidya Bagchi (Vidya) has now become a tourist spot.
"The week the film released greater than 30-40 people used to come back on a daily basis to have a glimpse of the guest house and room no 15. Now the choice of visitors is around 15-20," said Adhir Sahoo, assistant manager, Monalisa Guest House.
The guest house authorities allow the fans to have a glimpse of the room provided that the room isn't occupied by a boarder.
