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Hey! Ram dies out, but The Cup gets fuller

Arthur J Pais

Hey! Ram lived up to its title and collapsed in the second week. The movie found no place among the 60 films listed in Variety's 60 movies this week. The last movie on the list grossed about $45,000 for the Friday-Sunday period.

In the previous week, Hey! Ram had made about $170,000 in three days. The usual pattern for most desi movies is to lose about 40 per cent in the second week, though some have lost about 65 per cent. But unless Variety missed the box-office figures for Kamal Haasan's film, Hey! Ram has had one of the steepest declines for a desi film.

More than the film's length, more than its patriotic theme, it is the brief appearance of Shah Rukh Khan that has upset many people.

In England, Hey! Ram grossed about $50,000 in the first week and slumped drastically in the second. In all, the film could end its run in North America and England with a meagre $400,000.

Meanwhile, Bhutan's The Cup jumped from 48th position on the Variety list to 43rd position, and earned a strong $110,000 last weekend, taking its gross to about $450,000. Though it was not nominated for an Oscar, the movie has become one of the hot arthouse hits. Box-office observers expect it to gross about $1.2 million in North America.

Given the publicity it has received in many magazine and newspaper articles in England and the rest of Europe, The Cup could earn a substantial sum abroad. Hollywood insiders believe it could eventually gross about $2.5 million and become one of the most successful foreign films because it cost practically nothing. The film's television rights could get another $1 million from a handful of countries.

"This movie has the potential of being a sleeper hit in any country," says film writer Ric Ornellas. "Not many people will be able to resist it. It is simple, direct and charming, and has its own moralistic point of view."

In another development, Manoj Night Shyamalan's The Sixth Sense has humbled Steven Spielberg. It has grossed about $640 million worldwide, and is the ninth highest grossing film in the world. This week it pushed Spielberg's Jurassic Park sequel to tenth spot. If Sense keeps up the tempo, it could gross $700 million worldwide and be ranked among the five highest grossing films of all time.

"In many ways the success of Shyamalan reminds one what happened to Spielberg," says film-writer Suprotim Bose. "Spielberg's Sugarland Express did not make money. Ditto for Shyamalan's Wide Awake and then suddenly The Sixth Sense made him a worldwide phenomenon, just the way after his Jaws became an unexpected and huge hit, Spielberg became a celebrity in Hollywood."

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