Housefull is all set to take the second best start of last six months after 3 Idiots. Period. In the interim we have seen releases like ‘My Name Is Khan’ and ‘Veer’. As far as the weekend collections are concerned, the former worked in multiplexes while the latter scored in single screens. However, Housefull is destined to work in both the markets. The reasons are manifold.

First and foremost, it is coming with a ‘family entertainer’ tag and has been promoted extensively. Second, it is a multi-starrer and has the kind of star cast that cuts across segments. Third, and most important, this is the first major commercial release of the year and comes straight after the conclusion of IPL. No wonder, it would be surprising to see anything less than an 80% opening here.

Does that mean that records would be maintained or broken here? Well, the biggest opening ever stays on with ’3 Idiots’ and that is hard to be emulated. Second best is ‘Ghajini’ and though even that would be hard to achieve, at least it falls under some competition at least. Still, what is certain though is that Akshay Kumar is all set to enjoy the biggest ever opening of his career. His ‘Kambakkth Ishq’ had crossed the 40 crore mark last year and there is no reason why ‘Housefull’ shouldn’t do far better than that. If that happens, it would indeed be redemption of sorts for the man who badly needs a blockbuster to bring him back in the reckoning in a big way.

As for the other release of the week, ‘Chase’, it is a non-starter from the word Go. Now that’s an irony because despite a song like ‘Get, Set, Go’ in the film, it doesn’t seem to be going anywhere. The reasons are the ones which are the usual suspects – No promotion, no star cast, no buzz, no right release date, no nothing. And when the director (Jagmohan Mundhra) himself opts to dissociate from the product, the fate is pretty much sealed there and then.

– Rudhir Burman / Sampurn Wire