Box office: 'Guddu Rangeela' rakes in Rs 5 cr in its opening weekend

Amit Sadh and Arshad Warsi in a still from Guddu Rangeela

Bollywood ushered into the second half of 2015 on a rather disappointing note with last week's releases - 'Guddu Rangeela', 'Second Hand Husband' and 'Bezubaan Ishq' - failing to impress the audience. However, 'Guddu Rangeela' fared the best among the three, considering that it featured known faces like Arshad Warsi, Amit Sadh and Aditi Rao Hydari. Trade pundits say that since the film has been made on a budget of Rs 15 crore, it doesn't stand to lose too much as 70 per cent of the cost has been recovered through sale of satellite and music rights.

Amit Sadh and Arshad Warsi in a still from 'Guddu Rangeela'

'Second Hand Husband', which marked the debut of Govinda's daughter Tina Ahuja, did average business only in the northern parts of India as it featured Punjabi star Gippy Grewal. The third film, 'Bezubaan Ishq', which was billed as Sneha Ulla's comeback film, proved to be a disaster. Let alone the audience, even many critics chose to ignore it.

Trade analyst Amod Mehra calls it a dull weekend with most releases running to near-empty theatres. "All three films failed miserably. While 'Guddu Rangeela' managed to do some business, the other two found very few takers and will find it difficult to survive a full week," he states.

On the other hand, Varun Dhawan and Shraddha Kapoor-starrer 'ABCD 2' has danced its way into the Rs 100-crore club within the third week of its release. "It is now the second highest grosser of 2015 so far. Kangana Ranaut's 'Tanu Weds Manu Returns', which has collected Rs 150 crore, holds the numero uno position," says trade expert Taran Adarsh.

BO stats
Rs 5.82crore
'Guddu Rangeela' (opening weekend)

Rs 13 crore
'ABCD 2' (third week; Overall: Rs 101.91 crore)