It was widely expected that Ek Thi Daayan would embark on a start which would be one of the better ones of the year. Though crossing the opening weekend of Raaz 3 was always a long shot, it was still believed that this Kannan Iyer directed film would cover a good distance. However, the collections turned out to be decent, not striking, as 18.07 crores came in.
The film did stabilise on its opening day, especially at high end multiplexes but the growth over Saturday and Sunday was limited. While one had expected an opening in the range of 50%-60%, signs around that were visible on Friday itself when the film's narrative gave a clear indication that it won't quite enjoy a universal audience. While one did suspect that this would be the case (music and sex quotient - two integral elements of a horror flick, especially with Emraan - were missing), the end result did end up establishing the same.
Ek Thi Daayan would now have a one week run before Aashiqui 2 arrives and finds its audience. Moreover, Iron Man 3 is also expected to fetch good audience, especially in urban multiplexes.
For Emraan Hashmi, the film has taken a much better opening than Shanghai which was a niche film that presented the actor in an avtar which was different from how his loyal audience is used to seeing him in. Also, low cost of making as well as recovery from pre-selling of other rights would mean that the film would eventually sail through.
Joginder Tuteja tweets@tutejajoginder