Yaadein flounders in US due to
bad word-of-mouth publicity

Bad word-of-mouth publicity and video piracy killed Yaadein in its second weekend across North America.

The movie suffered a 72 per cent drop, collecting $180,000 on 54 screens and its 10-day gross is about $950,000. Most Indian movies lose about 50 per cent of the audiences in the second weekend.

At the current rate of attrition Yaadein could fade with about $1.1 million, a commendable figure for any desi movie but, given the hype and expectation, a disappointment for Subhash Ghai.

In Britain, however, there was better news. The film grossed about $97,000 (48 per cent fall) and its total reached $416,000, which is expected to go up to $600,000.

It is still among the top 15 films in Britain. Last weekend, it had the highest per screen average of any film in Britain, including Jurassic Park 3.

But sharp-minded box-office observers know not to compare the per screen average of a film on a few screens to that of a film being shown in dozens of screens.

The dino thriller was on more than 400 screens last weekend in Britain while Yaadein was shown on only 18. Jurassic Park 3 is expected to gross at least $25 million.

Given the big decline in North America and discouraging signs in Britain, it may be impossible for Yaadein to gross $2 million.

Yaadein will be hit further this week with the opening of: Yeh Raste Hain Pyaar Ke starring Madhuri Dixit, Ajay Devgan and Preity Zinta and Dil Chahta Hai starring Aamir Khan, Akshaye Khanna, Saif Ali Khan, Preity Zinta and Dimple Kapadia.

Dil Chahta Hai is getting a lot of prerelease publicity after the success of Aamir Khan's Lagaan.

Pranav Shah of Tips said Yaadein was hit badly as the market was flooded with pirated DVDs. There were several raids conducted last week in Sunny Vale, California, Chicago and Vancouver that led to the confiscation of pirated videos of many desi films, including Yaadein, but Shah felt that irrevocable damage had already been done.

He said the Federal Bureau of Investigation was looking into conducting raids in New York tristate areas too.

He also said that though some desi distributors release the videos the same week their movies are released, Ghai and Tips were firm about releasing the Yaadein video only on September 15.

Though the movie is fading fast, they have no plans to advance the video release day.

"Ghai made a movie for the big screen, and it has to be seen on the big screen first, and only then on the small screen," Shah insisted.

"Besides, we cannot forget that theatre owners and distributors have to run their businesses too," he added.

But many moviegoers complained the film was too long, too boring, and it offered too little of Hritik Roshan. They said the impact of pirated video and DVDs was clearly exaggerated.

"I saw Laagan four times," said a college student at last week's screening in a New York theater. "It was a long film but never did I get bored or feel like walking out for a few minutes and coming back to continue watching it."

"But Yaadein is truly a long film. I felt as if I was watching two, three-hour long Hindi movies," he pointed out.

She said once people realized that Ghai's magic had failed, they sent word to their relatives and friends to stay away from the movie.

Had it been otherwise, people would have still flocked to the movie theaters despite the pirated videos and DVDs, many moviegoers in New York and San Francisco said.

"For young people seeing a nice Hindi movie far away from home is a treat," said a young college girl. "We look forward to date movies. You know, most parents won't let us bring our boyfriends home. Even then, there is not much fun watching a movie at home with a boyfriend or a girlfriend, right?"

The last date movie she and friends really enjoyed, she said was Mohabatein.

Following is a short list of hit movies and their drop rates in North America in the second week:
* Lagaan - 17% ($285,368 first weekend, $238,148 in the second)
* American Desi - 18% ($305,054, $250,079)
* Hum Saath Saath Hain - 36% ($651,575, $414,520)
* Taal - 38% ($591,289, $366,178)