‘Aaha Kalyanam’ disappoints at the box office

Chennai: Bollywood production house Yash Raj Films (YRF) ventured into south Indian films with Tamil-Telugu bilingual Aaha Kalyanam, but it has failed to impress, trade analysts say.

In its opening weekend, the film, a remake of the hit Hindi movie Band Baaja Baaraat, managed to collect only Rs20.1 million (Dh1.19 million) from both the versions.

“Despite mixed reviews, the film opened to poor numbers. Both the versions collected just Rs20.1 million in its opening weekend. This is a disaster, considering the film comes from a prestigious banner and was a blockbuster in Hindi,” trade analyst Trinath said.

The film has not been appreciated because it is a frame-to-frame copy of the original, Trinath added.

“While some critics liked it, others panned it because it lacked southern sensibilities. Most of the scenes were recreated from the original. Moreover, they shot in one language [Tamil or Telugu] and dubbed it into the other. Even that didn’t go well with the viewers,” he added.

Directed by Gokul Krishna, Nani and Vaani Kapoor starrer Aaha Kalyanam hasn’t performed in the overeas market either.

“Tamil film Aaha Kalyanam, the remake of Band Baaja Baaraat, is a disaster in the US, Canada, UK, Australia and New Zealand,” Taran Adarsh posted on his Twitter page.

He added: “In the opening weekend, the Tamil version collected Rs221,000 in the US, Rs22,835 in Canada, Rs89,947 in Australia and Rs16,143 in New Zealand. The Telugu version collected Rs86,871 in the US.”