MUMBAI: The pre-release hype of Karan Johar‘s Kurbaan was so much that people presumed it to be the biggest hit of the year. On the contrary, the film opened below expectations.

Going by the paid previews held a day earlier, no one could even guess that the film would fare dismally once it opened in regular shows.

The collections of the first day was around 55-60 per cent at multiplexes while in single-screens it was between 35 to 40 per cent. The film, a UTV release, did a net business of approximately Rs 40 million on day one in India with the Bombay territory contributing Rs 15 million.

Reacting to the box-office performance of Kurbaan in his multiplex, Fun Cinema COO Vishal Kapur said, "While the response to the paid preview was very good all over, the opening has not been all that good; the reactions not being very positive. Though the weekend occupancy was on the higher side, to expect the same from Monday to Thursday was a bit dicey."

Reacting to the collections over the weekend, trade analyst Amod Mehra says, "No one wants to see films on terrorism anymore. Yes we had New York in between, but the film was not publicized as a film based on terrorism. On the other hand, the Dharma Productions film was publicised in a wrong manner."

Said Cinemax senior vice president Devang Sampat, "Our expectations to rake in around 85 to 90 per cent collections went awry on Sunday when we recorded just 50 per cent sales."

Come Monday, the business fell 55 per cent lower than that recorded on Friday and the release of Venus Records & Tapes‘ De Dana Dan next week will impact further business of Kurbaan.

In the overseas market too, the film has under-performed in the three key markets of UK, US and Australia.