Antaheen was the weekend’s dark horse

An Oscar-nominated British film set in Mumbai, a Bollywood horror flick playing the name game and a new-age Bengali movie combined to boost the box office in the first holiday weekend of 2009.

The extended January 23-26 weekend was crucial after Akshay Kumar’s Chandni Chowk to China bombed badly. Slumdog Millionaire, Raaz 2 and Antaheen have not disappointed. “Despite Slumdog and Raaz 2 being A-rated, the numbers were there,” says Vikas Syal of INOX (Forum). “Usually we lose around 50 per cent of the audience because of the adult tag....The real surprise has been Antaheen, which has done really well for a Bengali film at the plexes.”

Slumdog, riding the Oscar wave, has become the must-watch movie of the season. “Some are watching it to see how good it is, while others are checking out if the film has shown India in a poor light,” is the word from an official at Fame (South City), where the Danny Boyle film has raked in great weekend numbers. “The English film is the first choice but there are many who are catching Slumdog Crorepati in Hindi.”

Just like Raaz in 2002, Raaz 2 is off to a steady rather than a sizzling start. “There is a sustained curiosity about the film (starring Emraan Hashmi and Kangana Ranaut),” adds Syal from the Elgin Road plex.

Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury’s Antaheen has opened big. Ask leading man Rahul Bose. “I have got several text messages since the release. People have liked the acting, the music, editing, cinematography and me!”

Says Arijit Dutta of Piyali Films, which is distributing Aniruddha’s second film after Anuranan: “At Priya we’ve had 99 per cent footfall on Saturday-Sunday-Monday for the 3.10pm and 7.15pm shows. The same goes for Star Theatre.”

Slumdog Millionaire remains the top draw

The other Tollywood release last Friday, Kaushik Ganguly’s Jackpot, targeted the standalone theatres. “We are not concentrating on the multiplex crowd. But the reports from standalone halls are fantastic,” said Ganguly, pinning box-office hopes on the fun film.

This weekend, a fresh Bolly-Tolly combo will enter the box-office fray with Farhan Akhtar’s second film as an actor Luck By Chance and Victory, starring Hurman S. Baweja and Amrita Rao, having Rituparna Sengupta doing a Bipasha Basu for company in Trishna.

The pull points for the R-Day weekend were Oscar, horror and relationships. The draws this Saraswati puja will be Farhan, slam-bang cricket and dare-bare Rituparna.