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Hey! Ram: The title says it all!

A P Kamath

While the high-priced Pukar tanked in North America with just about $ 400,000 in three weeks and was a disappointment across England, with a meagre $ 200,000, there was a big question if Kamal Haasan's Hey Ram would be able to lift the box-office jinx this weekend.

Box-office gross for this week has not been announced because of the Presidential day holiday on Monday, but audiences in many theatres felt cheated that Shah Rukh Khan, who featured prominently in the movie's publicity, had a small role.

"You see the poster and Shah Rukh is there standing very tall," said one patron at the Eagle Theater in Jackson Heights. "But in the film he disappears after about 20 minutes and we do not see him for about two hours."

"This is not Sarfarosh," said another patron. "This does not have enough masalā. The first half an hour was very good, but after that the film's title says it all."

Meanwhile, a Bhutanese import kept going strong at the box-office despite not getting an Oscar nomination.

Fine Line's The Cup added seven theatres for a total of 19 last weekend, and grossed over $ 105,000 during the four-day weekend, grossing $ 310,000 in three weeks. It is expected to show up on at least a hundred screens through March. The movie is expected to gross $ 1 million. It will be one of the most profitable imports of the year.

The six Oscar nominations including the best picture nod gave a powerful lift to Manoj Night Shyamalan's The Sixth Sense in America and abroad.

It grossed $ 1.90 million over the four-day period (up 45 per cent) to push its domestic take to huge $ 282 million. It is now among the top 11 films in America.

The list is led by Titanic which minted about $ 610 million in America alone. The Sixth Sense could end with over $ 300 million in America. Abroad, the film has taken over $ 325 million, and is expected to end its run with at least $ 700 million.

Worldwide the box-office lead is held by Titanic with about $ 1.8 billion, followed by Jurassic Park at about $ 940 million.

"Oscar nominations in key categories have given the movie a big boost but it will do well even after the Oscars are over, even if it has not won a single Oscar," says film writer and critic Ric Ornellas. "It has won all the Oscars the people could give."

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