Is ‘Rann’ still running? Has ‘Ishiqya’ managed to do well?

Ramgopal Varma’s Rann, a film about the deterioration of the media, got massive support from the media in the form of glowing reviews but none of that translated into box-office collections.

The public rejected the film which the media lapped up, proving yet again how far removed from reality the media is.

The producers have reportedly spent around Rs. 250 million in making and releasing the film. The expected loss is Rs. 150 million. One of the two producers of the Amitabh Bachchan starrer is Madhu Mantena whose previous film was Ghajini, the biggest blockbuster of year 2008.

The other release of last week, Ishqiya, has managed to do well in pockets. Although a film about life in a small town like Gorakhpur with dialogues spoken by the lower strata of society, the film has appealed to the audience in the big cities.

Majority of its revenues are coming in from the multiplexes. It is especially doing well in Delhi, parts of U.P., Bombay but is not upto the mark in Gujarat, Hyderabad and Calcutta.

The Naseer-Vidya-Arshad starrer has cost Shemaroo Rs. 220 million and if the collections maintain in the second week too, the producers might scrape through, having released the film themselves almost all over India. Otherwise, they would lose a few millions.