Three movies with their own share of hype have put up a disappointing performance at the box-office. However, the collection patterns Jhootha Hi Sahi, Rakht Charitra and Hisss have made it difficult for the analysts to write them off as such.

Abbas Tyrewalla’s Jhootha Hi Sahi featuring John Abraham had a poor start and didn’t find appreciating from the critics to make up for the unimpressive collections. But it managed to earn steady collections yet strictly average collections during weekdays. It may end its run being a below average grosser and the makers will have to turn to satellite and DVD rights to earn profit.

Ram Gopal Varma’s biopic movie Rakht Charitra had the worst start of the three releases. It did grab attention from the media for its grounding on real events and real people and critics showered praises on it for RGV’s vision. Terming it the most violent movie ever made in Bollywood wasn’t exactly the right thing to do as far as promotional stunts were concerned. Family audiences stayed away from theatres and that created a huge dent in collections. The point to be noted here is that it is too early to write off Rakht Charitra which is the first of a two-part series. The Telugu version has been well-received and since the second part features Tamil’s most bankable actor Surya, the producers will be busy counting the takings once the two movies in three languages conclude their run.

Hisss was all about Mallika Sherawat and Mallika Sherawat and more of Mallika Sherawat. Released in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam, Hisss did found takers in single screens though multiplexes rejected it outright. A wishy-washy marketing campaign which at one point tried to sell the movie for its Hollywood-esque visual effects and then went full throttle to promote Mallika’s nude scenes as the USP went catastrophically wrong. The reviewers didn’t receive the movie with enthusiasm either. Even the much-hyped special effects didn’t succeed in pleasing the viewers. Hisss may make profits if it sticks a bit longer in the single screens or else Mallika is going down with this one.