Saif Ali Khan and Rani Mukerji in Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic an d (below) Imran Khan and Genelia D’Souza in Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na

Sci-fi love can wait (maybe till 2050); for now, good ol’ family fare and a fizzy college romance are reigning supreme at the Calcutta box office.

After Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic, it’s Jaane Tu… Ya Jaane Na that has cast a spell on plex audiences. In contrast, Love Story 2050 has struggled in its very first weekend in the city.

While Thoda Pyaar… was expected to strike gold with superstars like Rani Mukerji and Saif Ali Khan helming the cast, Jaane Tu…, with two newcomers in Imran Khan and Genelia D’Souza, has been a pleasant surprise.

Despite a much bigger budget, the presence of Priyanka Chopra and the hype around debutant Harman Baweja, it’s been a downhill journey for Love Story 2050 from first-day-first-show on Friday.

“The drop in 2050’s fortunes came early in the weekend, while Jaane Tu… grew stronger right through the same period,” said Mahendra Soni of Shree Venkatesh Films, which has distributed both films in Calcutta. “Not many have liked the entire package of 2050, but had it come next Friday, its chances would have surely been better. Now, we’ll be happy if it can last for three weeks at the plexes.”

Thoda Pyaar… has come as a relief for Yash Raj Films. After recent flops like Aaja Nachle and Tashan, the audience has warmed to the Kunal Kohli film. “Children have liked the film a lot and, so, a release during the summer vacation could have worked even better for Thoda Pyaar…,” said Pritam Jalan, the east India distributor of the film. “Still, the family audience has made it one of the biggest grossers of the year till now.”

But the industry feels that it will be Jaane Tu… that will go on to become the biggest hit of the year.

Vikas Syal, the general manager of INOX (Forum), said: “When we saw the first-day-first-show at 9.30am on Friday go house full, we knew that people were waiting for Jaane Tu... Since then, every show has gone full and advance bookings have been huge. Thoda Pyaar..., surprisingly, hasn’t been that affected by the two new releases and has held its ground.'

The status quo is likely to remain till Kismat Connection (July 18) and Singh is Kinng (August 8) hit the theatres.