Entertainment The Gujarati cinema is on a roll. The Diwali release, Chaniya Toli, which was made in just Rs. 5 crores, became a blockbuster as it crossed the Rs. 16 crore mark. Meanwhile, a small Gujarati movie, Laalo – Krishna Sada Sahaayate, has become an even bigger blockbuster. Its budget is paltry Rs. 50 lakhs and yesterday, on November 7, it earned a huge Rs. 2.50 crores, that too on its fifth Friday. It has gone past Chaniya Toli and has the potential to cross the Rs. 30 crore mark. Box Office: Made in JUST Rs. 50 lakhs, MIRACULOUS Gujarati blockbuster Laalo – Krishna Sada Sahaayate on track to cross Rs. 30 cr mark; earns nearly 29 TIMES more than new release Haq on its fifth Friday in Rajhans Cinemas The trend of Laalo – Krishna Sada Sahaayate is one of its kind and has stunned the trade and industry. It was released in the dull pre-Diwali period, on October 10. The awareness was negligible and moreover, it starred new faces. As a result, it initially received very little audience. In Week 1, it earned around Rs. 36 lakhs, while in the second week, it earned Rs. 28 lakhs approx. But from week 3, the film began to slowly see a rise in awareness and collections. It earned Rs. 70 lakhs in its third week, despite competition from Chaniya Toli and the big Hindi releases, namely, Thamma and Ek Deewane Ki Deewaniyat. Realizing that demand was increasing, the theatres increased their showcasing on the 4th Friday, after which the number of shows went up with each passing day. Laalo – Krishna Sada Sahaayate, which earned around Rs. 1.34 crores in the first three weeks, managed to earn a whopping Rs. 14 crores approx. in Week 4! Videos on social media show viewers dancing and celebrating in cinemas during the shows of Laalo. It further made people curious about the film. Until the first 3 weeks, 78% of its collections came from non-national chains and single screens, but from Week 4 onwards, the scenario underwent a massive change. Laalo – Krishna Sada Sahaayate has the biggest screen count in its fifth week. It has a record 29 shows a day at Rajhans Cinema, Precia, Surat, 26 shows a day at AB Miniplex Ahmedabad, 24 shows in Rajhans Flamingo Surat and 22 shows in a single day at PVR Arved Transcube Ahmedabad. In Mumbai, it has got considerable showcasing from November 7, even in cinemas like Chitra Dadar and Mukta A2 Jai Hind Lalbaug that are not known to play Gujarati films. And that’s not all. It has got a show each in Bengaluru and Hyderabad and they are running house full. Exhibitor speaks up Kiritbhai T Vaghasia, who runs The Friday Cinema multiplex in Surat, gave a first-hand account of the craze. He told Bollywood Hungama, “We don’t get advance booking. But this film is getting full in advance, even an 8:30 am show on a Sunday. In times like these, I wish that my theatre had 10 screens instead of 3! Even 10 screens would not have been sufficient; that’s the demand for Laalo!” He said, “Usually, for big films, customers ask for 2 tickets, 3 tickets, or a maximum of 5 tickets. With Laalo, people are coming in huge groups and they ask for 15 tickets, 20 tickets, or even 30 tickets! And no, this is not self-booking by producer or distributor or any mandals. Customers are themselves making these bookings. And even if I am increasing its price, it’s not impacting footfalls. And can you believe that in its first week, not a single ticket of the film was sold in my cinema hall!” When asked what made him bring back Laalo, he replied, “I re-released the film last Friday at the request of director Ankit Sakhiya; he had studied with my son in Canada. On October 31, I kept the 4:00 pm show. 2 hours before the show, my staff told me that it was about to get full. We decided to play 2 more shows, at 7:00 pm and 10:00 pm. All 3 ran house-full. On Sunday, November 9, I’ll play only Laalo, with 20 shows a day. This is the first time in the history of The Friday Cinema that only one movie will be played in all its screens. I get so many calls from friends and acquaintances to ask if a few tickets of Laalo are available. But we have smaller screens and we don’t hold 4-5 tickets for last-minute rush. Hence, I have to decline such requests.” As for people dancing during the end credit song, he laughed and said, “We have to request people to leave. We usually plan the schedule with the belief that most of the viewers leave the cinema halls when the credits roll. Then our staff quickly cleans the screen of waste items, after which we allow patrons of the next show to enter. In the case of Laalo, people don’t leave until the end, as they are busy dancing or witnessing other moviegoers doing garba. Ideally, we should increase the gap between the two shows of Laalo. But that would mean removing one show per screen and we can’t afford to do that as the demand is insane.” He also revealed, “Roam around Surat and there’s no way you won’t find people discussing Laalo on the streets. At pan shops and tea stalls, I could hear friends asking one another if they had seen Laalo. After all, everyone around them is watching the film or about to go for it and every mobile phone in Gujarat has received Reels of the film.” Laalo – Krishna Sada Sahaayate has a Lord Krishna connection and Kiritbhai T Vaghasia remarked, “I truly believe that Lord Krishna himself has blessed this film. Otherwise, how do you explain that the film, which barely had an audience in the first 2 weeks, suddenly began to run house-full in every theatre? And