Box office: Akshay Kumar's 'Baby' fails to cash in on the four-day weekend

Exhibhitors had hoped that last Friday's releases would reap good dividends in the long four-day weekend, but the collections of 'Baby' and 'Dolly Ki Doli' have left them disappointed. In the extended weekend, Neeraj Pandey's 'Baby' featuring Akshay Kumar, grossed Rs 40 crore while Sonam Kapoor-starrer 'Dolly Ki Doli' managed to rake in only about Rs 11 crore.

Akshay Kumar in 'Baby'

Exhibitor Rajesh Thadani says, "The two films collected some decent numbers but they were well below our expectations."

Vishal Anand of Fun Cinemas says 'Baby' was the audience's pick with the film earning rave reviews. He says, "People who saw the film liked its plot. This was encouraging, considering the lukewarm response that the last few releases have received. Since Monday was a national holiday, the film's collections Tuesday onwards will actually give us an idea of how its business is going to shape up. 'Dolly Ki Doli' fared decently in India's northern belt."

However, trade analyst Komal Nahata suggests that the collections of the two films dropped on Monday. He points out, "The numbers for both the films picked up on Saturday and moved further up on Sunday, but they took a nosedive on Monday. It does not require intelligence (to say) that both 'Baby' and 'Dolly Ki Doli' are going to entail losses. 'Baby' is poised to lose more as it is high priced."