Konttho, the much-awaited film by director-duo Shiboprosad Mukherjee and Nandita Roy, that released on May 10, has again hit the bullseye. The movie, starring Shiboprosad Mukherjee, Paoli Dam and Jaya Ahsan, saw an unprecedented response in cinema halls with a hundred per cent occupancy rate in almost all the cineplexes and standalone theatres. The movie, that deals with the struggle of a larynx cancer patient, who has lost his voice, was made with a budget of Rs 1 crore 20 lakh. It has already recovered Rs 75 lakh in the first three days of its release from the box office, tells Bablu Damani, the distributor of Konttho. "It has been a fantastic run for the movie and we had a 90 per cent occupancy rate in the theatres in the first weekend," says Damani.
"I think again content has ruled the roost. And that's why despite the release of Student of the Year 2, IPL final and ongoing election, we have done well and I am grateful to the audience for their unfettered support," tells actor-filmmaker Shiboprosad Mukherjee.
The response has been so good that PVR Diamond Plaza increased one more show there. "The response has been stupendous and we had 100 per cent occupancy rate during the weekend. We are planning to increase and accommodate more shows of Konttho going by the response," says Ujjal Biswas, programming executive PVR Cinemas, which is having 5 shows at Diamond Plaza, 3 shows at Avani Mall, 2 shows at mani Square and 2 shows at PVR Downtown of the movie.
Even standalone theatres are having a rollicking time with full-house shows of the Konttho. "We had a great collection on weekend with full occupancy. The first show on Friday had a slow response with 50 per cent occupancy rate and that must have been due to the unbearably hot weather," says Prabir Roy, owner of Ashoka cinema, Behala.
Priya Cinema too had a good response with the weekend going full. "But Monday is a bit slow with about 75 per cent occupancy rate," says a spokesperson of Priya.
"The response has been incredible and we have decided to retain the two shows of Konttho for upcoming weeks too since it's giving good business," says Navin Chokhani, owner of Navina cinema.
"Kontho is doing extremely well. It's running in 216 shows across Bengal and the occupancy rate has been around 80 per cent across the state. Monday despite being a weekday, it's holding strong with 45-50 per cent occupancy all over," says Pankaj Ladia, trade analyst.