Mithun Chakraborty in a still from Don Muthu Swami

The first day first show of Don Muthu Swami at Menoka cinema had more ushers than people in the audience. All of three persons had turned up to watch the Shakti Samanta production starring Mithun Chakraborty in the title role.

Don Muthu Swami had company, though. The pathetic turnout at the two other May 23 releases — Dhoom Dhadakka and Ghatotkach — ensured it was a black, black Friday for the city box-office, the usual audience being hooked to the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Ghatotkach, a children’s animation film on the Mahabharata character, and Dhoom Dhadakka, a comedy of errors starring largely unknown faces, struggled on Day One with occupancy percentages across theatres not even hitting 25 per cent. But none could match the south Indian don in the half-dhoti, whose arrival could not even manage an aiyo from the audiences.

“Usually we cancel a show when we don’t have at least 20-25 people in the entire hall but we didn’t cancel the Friday noon show of Don... because after all it was the film’s very first show,” Menoka owner Pranab Roy told Metro.

While Mithun got lucky, a couple of weeks back son Mimoh wasn’t that fortunate. The first day first show of his debut film Jimmy was cancelled at Fame (South City) because the crowd count did not reach the minimum number — five!

The week that followed saw seven shows of Jimmy getting cancelled across all the multiplex properties in town.

Why blame it on the Chakrabortys alone? Other releases like Sirf, Mr White Mr Black and Anamika have struggled to complete one full week at the theatres. Even night shows of the much-hyped multi-starrer Tashan had to be cancelled at single screens on the days Kolkata Knight Riders took the field at Eden Gardens.

Yes, the Indian Premier League has been one of the main reasons why Bollywood releases have suffered greatly. So much so that some of the May releases have been pushed back to June to avoid clashing with the daily Twenty20 extravaganza on TV. Only Jannat dared to arrive in the middle of it all and with its theme around cricket, the Emraan Hashmi-starrer has managed to pull in some crowds.

The other saving grace has surprisingly been Hollywood with Iron Man and The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian doing decent business. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, releasing next Friday, should continue that trend. Then Bollywood should be back with a bang on the wings of all-Bachchan power in Sarkar Raj and John Abraham craze in Aashayein. Stay tuned.