Rajshri Productions' first big budget contemporary love story, Main Prem Ki Diwani Hoon, starring Hrithik Roshan, Kareena Kapoor and Abhishek Bachchan, danced to solid numbers across North America.
With several housefull shows over the weekend, the film directed by Sooraj R Barjatya has grossed $672,000 on 60 screens.
It is the 16th highest grossing film in the country and had a per screen average of about $11,200. The movie and its music has struck a chord with younger audiences. Many theatre managers said they have not seen such a youthful audience in a long time for a desi film.
The top 20 list also featured another film by a desi director.
Gurinder Chadha's coming-of-age comedy drama Bend It Like Beckham grossed $560,000 in its 16th week. The film, showing on 301 screens, has grossed about $24 million and was at the 18th position on the list. It is expected to be in the theatres for four more weeks. The screen count will come down significantly after two weeks.
Worldwide, the gross for the movie, made for $5 million, is reaching $75 million, making it one of the most profitable films in recent years.
The screen count for Main Prem... will not change the coming week because of the lucrative July 4 weekend promise. This is one of the hottest seasons for movies in any year.
Even if the box-office for Main Prem... follows the usual tradition for Hindi films -- a decline of 50 per cent in the second week -- it could still have a decent $1.5 million gross in the end.
Some exhibitors said they were hopeful the movie could reach $2 million if it does not suffer a big drop during the July 4 weekend. It is reportedly doing excellent business in Britain and is expected to sail past $1.5 million.
Though far removed from such huge Rajshri hits as Hum Aapke Hain Koun..! which had grossed over $2 million, MPKDH is quite a hit and its success is a big boost to its stars, particularly Roshan, Kapoor and Bachchan. For Bachchan, this will be his first widely seen film in North America.
Meanwhile, according to the trade publication Variety, the Shah Rukh Khan-Rani Mukerji starrer Chalte Chalte has grossed $1 million in Britain and could end its run with $2 million. Though distributor Eros isn't releasing the figures for the film in North America, it is estimated to have approached $900,000.
