I Hate Luv Storys Earns 6.5 Cr overseas

I Hate Luv Storys featuring Imran Khan and Sonam Kapoor has fetched an excellent start in the international markets. The film has collected approx. Rs. 6.5 crores in its opening weekend, which is very, very good, since the film doesn't really star names that draws the overseas audience to theatres. In fact, this is amongst the best starts of this year!

U.K. BOX-OFFICE
* I Hate Luv Storys has debuted at No. 8 position. In its opening weekend, the film has collected £ 2,00,744 (approx. Rs. 1.42 crores) on 43 screens, with the per screen average working out to £ 4,668.

The breakup:- Friday: £ 66,315, Saturday: £ 69,084, Sunday: £ 65,345.

* Ravanan (Tamil film; last weekend: No. 24, this weekend: No. 33): In its third weekend, the film has collected £ 5,608 on 6 screens, with the per screen average working out to £ 935. Total: £ 1,35,657 (approx. Rs. 96.10 lacs).

* Raavan (last weekend: No. 19, this weekend: No. 36): In its third weekend, the film has collected £ 5,271 on 21 screens, with the per screen average working out to £ 251. Total: £ 2,25,504 (approx. Rs. 1.60 crores). Note:- Some sites unreported.

* Raajneeti (last weekend: No. 27, this weekend: No. 40): In its fifth weekend, the film has collected £ 3,856 on 13 screens, with the per screen average working out to £ 297. Total: £ 5,29,098 (approx. Rs. 3.75 crores).

* Punjaban (last weekend: No. 50, this weekend: No. 64): In its fourth weekend, the film has collected £ 1,161 on 3 screens, with the per screen average working out to £ 387. Total: £ 38,439 (approx. Rs. 27.24 lacs).

* Kites (last weekend: No. 81, this weekend: No. 107): In its seventh weekend, the film has collected £ 90 on 1 screen. Total: £ 5,58,821 (approx. Rs. 3.96 crores).

U.S.A. BOX-OFFICE
* I Hate Luv Storys: In its opening weekend, the film has collected $ 4,62,867 (approx. Rs. 2.16 crores). The breakup:- Wednesday + Thursday: $ 88,110, Friday: $ 1,23,613, Saturday: $ 1,40,984, Sunday: $ 1,10,160.

AUSTRALIA BOX-OFFICE
* I Hate Luv Storys has debuted at No. 14 position. In its opening weekend, the film has collected Aus. $ 93,346 (approx. Rs. 36.80 lacs) on 11 screens, with the per screen average working out to Aus. $ 8,486.

GULF BOX-OFFICE
* I Hate Luv Storys: In its opening weekend, the film has collected US $ 4,68,000 (Thursday to Sunday; few screens awaited) on 34 screens, with the per screen average working out to $ 13,765. Works out to approx. Rs. 2.19 crores.

PAKISTAN BOX-OFFICE
* I Hate Luv Storys: Despite a shut down in main cinemas (6 main multiplexes), has done US $ 63,000 (approx. Rs. 29.45 lacs) in its opening weekend.
Source:entertainment.oneindia.in

People are reacting positively to I Hate Luv Storys – Karan Johar

Karan Johar and Co. has cracked it well with I Hate Luv Storys. The romcom is basically a packaged affair. Despite a thin storyline it has clicked at the box office with mega collections coming in over the weekend. Producer Karan Johar is, of course, happy with the state of affairs and clearly understands the factors that led to the film’s big opening.

“We never proclaimed that we were in the process of making some edgy, out of the world entertainer. The idea was to make a fun, young, romcom popcorn entertainer and we achieved that with IHLS”, says Karan in an excited tone. “We had to pep it with good comic and heart-warming moments and rope in good looking protagonists. Also, music was of paramount importance and Vishal-Shekhar did the trick for us.”

He denies that with the film, he and director Punit Malhotra were trying to break the cliché of conventional love stories. “On the contrary, we were playing with the clichés here”, he smiles. “See, people are reacting positively to IHLS because ever since Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Naa, there hasn’t been a movie belonging to romcom genre coming out of Bollywood. People were waiting to catch something like this and got it with IHLS.”

Talking about the dramatic elements that fill the second-half of the film, Karan says, “Yes, there was a little bit of drama but nothing was melodramatic or unusual. Everything happens as it does in the real world”.

On a parting note, one can’t help but ask Karan if he too truly believes that love stories in today’s generation have actually moved on from what they used to be a decade ago.

“That’s right”, admits Karan, “My parents saw a different kind of romance on screen. Later in 90s, there was a different syntax that came in. Today, it is different altogether. For quite some time, there wasn’t a love story which was reflective of today’s time. IHLS managed to fit that bill and hence it succeeded”.

www.bollywoodworld.com

I Hate Luv Storys neither romantic enough nor cynical

by Subhash K Jha

Starring: Imran Khan, Sonam Kapoor, Sammir Dattani

Written & Directed by Punit Malhotra

Rating: **

Swear to God and hope to die if I lie. But I really love love- stories even if they're spelt as 'luv –storys'.

But debutant director Punit Malhotra's I Hate Luv Storys (IHLS) just proves a over-sassy, under-written, rudderless out-of-control disappointment, coming as it does from Karan Johar production house which in the last one year has given us two films by debutant directors –Rensil d'Silva's Kurbaan and Ayaan Mukerjee's Wake Up Sid—which made a difference to the way we look at contemporary commercial cinematic entertainment.

IHLS is neither romantic enough nor cynical in sufficient measures about romantic cinema. Neither mushy nor tongue-in-cheek, the relationship between a dreamy-eyed romantic art -director Simran (Sonam, looking suitably dreamy-eyed and romantic) and a sardonic sneering cynical assistant-director Jay (Imran Khan), hovers uneasily between romance and its rejection.We never know which of the two is the guiding factor in the plot.

So take a look. We have this goofy messy guy named Jay who hates his surname 'Dhingra' because it isn't 'cool.' Making fun of mushy films is. Even if your helping one to be made.

The cool quotient in Punit Malhotra's screenplay spills out in unchecked amounts. Characters roll their eyes and chuckle loudly at the mention of romance. Their aggressive denial of all things lovey-dovey should have been backed up by oodles of basic common sense, warmth and witticism.

The writing lacks all three qualities. The screenplay is uneven and the lines that the characters mouth are intentionally designed to be cool.They end up being unintentionally awkward.

Urban cool, like glamour and chutzpah only works when it's done unselfconsciously. Most moments that take the narration towards the inevitable embrace of the diehard romantic and the laugh-hard cynic are strung together like one-line sms jokes stretched into a love saga from here to to New Zealand.

http://www.santabanta.com/