The movie that set the Eid-ul-Azha box office-office on fire continues at breakneck speed towards smashing long held Pakistani cinema records. After becoming the highest grossing Pakistani film on its third weekend, the latest is that Jawani Phir Nahi Ani 2 broke the 40 crore barrier yesterday on Friday, at the end of its third week, taking the crown of being the first film to have crossed the previously insurmountable 40 crore barrier. The excellent run of the movie – and of the other two in the Eid-ul-Azha cohort – has shattered many long-held myths about the viability of homegrown cinema and the star power of leading players from the Pakistani entertainment industry.
Following their release on August 22, the Eid trio, including JPNA2 saw packed occupancy during the entirety of the first extended week (i.e. 9 days). The numbers for JPNA2 since then have been extraordinarily strong, showing weekly declines around the 20-30% range. Even during the fourth weekend, JPNA2 (and Parwaaz Hai Junoon) is running to packed houses with most shows at theaters in the Islamabad/Rawalpindi region sold out in advance. While the official figures, and those provided by the box-office tracker boxofficedetail.com, are impossible to independently verify, reports from trade as well as the audience corroborate the narrative of JPNA2’s record breaking run. To add some icing to its already well-embellished cake, the movie is expected to trend well in the forthcoming weeks, especially the absence of any foreign or local competition.
The record smashing run of JPNA2 will be a shot in the arm for Fahad Mustafa, also the lead actor in the other Eid film Load Wedding, that released simultaneously with JPNA2 but which managed a lukewarm run. It will also further cement Humayun Saeed’s status as the leading mogul of the Pakistani media circuit. The movie will be the fifth successful venture for the actor, who first tasted cinematic success in the 1999 romantic thriller Inteha and who has now enjoyed a string of hits over the last few years in the recently revived Pakistani cinema scene.
The following are the figures for JPNA2 so far:
Week One (Extended) 23.23 crores
Week Two 10.06 crores
Week Three 6.81 crores
Total 40.1cr
Figures courtesy boxofficedetail.com
