A few months back, when UTV purchased the movie ‘Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na’ for distribution outside India, lots of people questioned if the veteran distributor with a lucky streak including Race, Rang De Basanti was on the wrong side.
 
UTV’s Lokesh Dhar stated, “Many people said films without stars won't do any business abroad.”

“They said we were making a mistake and we should let the film go straight to DVD. But we had faith in the film and its leading man Imran Khan [Images] and writer-director Abbas Tyrewala. We thought it would be a film that would instantly appeal to young audiences. Even then we decided to give the film a decent but modest break, and we have been proved right,” he added.

For a small budget movie, word-of-mouth promotion is crucial, and several people at New York movie theatres stated they would recommend it to their allies.

Many college students called it a good date movie.
 
In its first three-day weekend across North America, Love Story 2050 earned more than $200,000 on 33 locations.
 
According to reports, Jaane Tu has made a highly impressive $8 million during its first weekend in India.

Given the film’s low cost, it could cover up the investment in just 10 days.
 
Dhar further added, “The only two big things we had going as an initial draw for Jaane Tu was that it was produced by Aamir Khan.”

“Aamir's Taare Zameen Par was also released by UTV and had a smash run in America, the Gulf countries and the UK. And there was the refreshing musical score by A R Rahman. His music in Jaane Tu unlike anything he has done before.”
 
The movie's $200,000 gross is quite exciting when one looks at the total number of locations showing it. While a star-driven film like Tashan could gross just around $300,000 while being shown in some 80 theatres, the initial gross of Jaane Tu is cheering, to say the least.
 
‘Sarkar Raj’ was the only movie, which opened with a bang in North America during the last three months. It grossed $700,000 in the first week. But the costly movie landed during the second week as it did in India, and finished its North American run with a average $1.1 million.
 
“Another reason Jaane Tu did very good business is because it looks very appealing,” Dhar said. “The story may not be new but Abbas Tyrewala has given the film a fresh look. And the college kids in the film do look like college kids. That is a big plus.”
 
It performed powerfully in the Middle East including the Gulf earning over $177,000 at 15 locations, as well. But, in UK, it grossed an anemic $60,000 at 13 locations.