A great summer for Bollywood

Large swathes of India may have had a hard time coping with the monsoons last month, but in Bollywood, it was raining hits all August.

The Hindi film industry struggles to average one hit a month, but four films netted Rs1.1 billion (Dh91.15 million) between them in the past four weeks.

August began dull, with the urban comedy Ugly Aur Pagli not living up to expectations, but the very next week, Akshay Kumar's Singh Is Kinng shattered Indian box office records by grossing Rs435m in the first week and breaking Om Shanti Om's opening week record of Rs400m. Totting up Rs690m in its first three weeks in India, it was also a gold mine for the international market, grossing more than $2m (Dh7.34m) each in United States and United Kingdom within three weeks, and Dh4m in the UAE – a phenomenal achievement in this region.

Close on its heels came the vibrant romance, Bachna Ae Haseeno. Starring India's newest heartthrob, Ranbir Kapoor, it struck a chord with the youth and ended production house Yashraj Films' dismal performance at the box office since last year's hit Chak De India. It has netted Rs300m in its first two weeks in India, mainly in the metropolitan markets, and has also done fairly well globally, including in the UAE, where it has been a solid hit with grosses of Dh2.6m.

Maverick filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma's unconventional horror film Phoonk, made for Rs30m, surprised everyone by taking an opening of more than 90 per cent across India. An aggressive publicity campaign worked in its favour, generating Rs67.5m in India in its first week alone. This has prompted distributors to consider an international release, but in the UAE, the film will go straight to DVD.

Finally, last week's release, rock music movie Rock On, shattered many box-office myths and drew full houses across India. It is expected to gross Rs100m in its first week alone. While it has done very well in the US and UK, a limited release in the UAE saw it bring in only Dh100,000.

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