'Go Goa Gone' mints 13 crore in first week

Saif Ali Khan

Saif Ali Khan’s zom com Go Goa Gone has been released last week and it has raked in decent business. The film is getting good competition from Star Trek into Darkness – a Hollywood blockbuster and Gippi, a coming of age film by Karan Johar.

The film introduces a few novel concepts in Bollywood. First, it is a hilarious mix of comedy and horror - definitely a new experiment in the industry.  Second, it is a zombie film. The concept of zombies is not indigenous and the audience requires some guidance to understand the concept. These characteristics have made it a niche film and it is targeted at an urban audience. It was not expected thatGo Goa Gone will find much appeal in mass audience. Moreover, though there is considerable excitement in the appearance of Saif in a gangster avatar as the Russian drug lord Boris and self styled zombie hunter, the film actually stars newcomers Kunal Khemu and others. When you analyze the trade figures keeping these factors in mind, the film’s collections can be said to be decent.
Distributor Sunny Khanna said, “If you see GGG as a Kunal Khemu film considering that Saif has done a cameo and given that it is a new concept of a zombie horror film, the numbers are decent. It made Rs 3.75 crore on Friday, Rs 3.95 crore on Saturday and Rs 4.70 croreon Sunday, making it a Rs 12.50 crore weekend. It was released on 1,150 screens -- most of them were multiplexes with a select few single screens. You also have to take into consideration that it is an A certificate film.”
However, the film has not made much of an impression in the international box office, especially when you compare its collection with that of Race 2 – the last movie by Saif.
“GGG is a well made and an engaging film but it caters only to the urban audiences. The lack of appeal in the smaller towns and cities has kept it from achieving big numbers. Considering it is a niche film, it’s doing just fine!” says Akshaye Rathi, distributor.
Trade analyst Komal Nahta stated, “Go Goa Gone would have collected about R 13 crore and Gippi on a higher scale would have been R 2.75 crore.”
The fate of the film will be better understood with the collections of the first Monday.