Life
Never Say Goodbye Hello, Big Bucks
Well, the waiting is over. Karan Johar’s much anticipated Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna (Never Say Goodbye) has finally hit the big screens. KANK, as it is known in Bollywood lingo, has probably had more written about it than any other movie due to its stupendous cast. Both Bachchans – Amitabh and Abhishek – King Shahrukh Khan, Preity Zinta, Rani Mukerjee and even some glimpses of star guests such as Kajol who is Johar’s lucky mascot. When all of them are on the screen together you get sooo star-struck you just don’t know where to look!
While the movie has received mixed reviews and the storyline of infidelity and broken marriages never really touches the heart, KANK is a visual feast. All those beautiful, beautiful people and their combined superpower make for some super viewing. The cinematography is great with lush locales and gorgeous Manish Malhotra outfits that change by the minute. For Indian Americans, the movie will hold special appeal. It is about them, NRIs living in New York. All of the stars play characters that live and work in the Big Apple, which really shines in the movie and India is a faraway place that is hardly mentioned. Of course, none of us NRIs have huge color-coordinated wardrobes and aren’t given to singing at the drop of a hat, but wouldn’t we all like to do that! Over 4,000 locals were used for KANK so now Johar is providing employment opportunities to New Yorkers!
Not surprisingly, KANK spells big bucks, and theaters have been sold out before the movie even opened. According to Gitesh Pandya of Box OfficeGuru.com, KANK set a new opening weekend record for Bollywood films in North America with $1.4M from 64 locations for a $21,122 average, and the movie scored the best per-theater average of any film in the Top 40 in the United States. |
