The opening of Bachchhan Paandey yesterday (March 18) was not upto the mark because of Holi festivities and the strong opposition of The Kashmir Files which entered its second week. Bachchhan Paandey also did not get the shows and screens it would’ve otherwise got, because exhibitors clung on to The Kashmir Files for dear life. Of course, collections of Bachchhan Paandey grew as the day progressed because the Holi festivities were over by afternoon.
Radhe Shyam met with a disastrous fate in 1st week. Although the Telugu version of the bilingual performed better, it was still way below the mark. As for the Hindi version, its first week’s collections were terribly weak. The film’s Hindi version netted Rs. 4 crore on the first day. Collections picked up on Saturday and Sunday but the increase was unimpressive, considering that the start was so low. It collected Rs. 4.50 crore on Saturday, and Rs. 5 crore on Sunday, taking the first weekend’s total to Rs. 13.50 crore. Collections were rather poor on the weekdays: Monday – Rs. 1.50 crore, Tuesday – Rs. 1.15 crore, Wednesday – Rs. 1 crore, Thursday – Rs. 0.65 crore. In this way, the total for the weekdays was a paltry Rs. 4.30 crore. The first week, therefore, closed at Rs. 17.80 crore. The distributor’s share from the Telugu version in the first week was only Rs. 52.59 crore. The Kannada dubbed version yielded a share of Rs. 4.18 crore, the Tamil version, Rs. 0.75 crore, and the Malayalam dubbed version, Rs. 0.18 crore. Including the Hindi version’s share of Rs. 8.90 crore, and the share of the various versions from the rest of India of Rs. 1.58 crore, the total all-India share in the first week was Rs. 68.18 crore. The film will entail heavy losses to all the distributors as they would reach the break-even point at a distributors’ share of Rs. 204 crore which seems to be a distant dream.
The Kashmir Files is nothing short of box-office magic! The film, made at a budget of only Rs. 15 crore, has surpassed all expectations and has written box-office history in the first week. Its second week’s opening is also historic, just like the first week’s collections. Looking to the outstanding public reports, the film was being screened in more than 2,600 screens by the end of the first week as against the less-than-700 screens on the first day!! The film netted Rs. 3.50 crore on day 1 from very limited screens. The screen count started increasing from the first day itself. Saturday collections shot up to Rs. 8.25 crore. The Sunday figure came as a virtual surprise to everyone. The third day closed at Rs. 15 crore, thereby taking the first weekend’s total to Rs. 26.75 crore. What followed in the weekdays is probably unprecedented in box-office history. Collections on Monday were as huge as on Sunday — Rs. 15 crore. The film netted Rs. 18 crore on Tuesday, another first. The figure of Rs. 18.50 crore on Wednesday was also unprecedented. The film collected Rs. 18 crore on Thursday, taking the total for the weekdays to an unbelievable Rs. 69.50 crore, more than double the weekend’s total. In this way, the first week closed at Rs. 96.25 crore! The film has become a movement of sorts through the length and breadth of the country. It has come like a saviour for exhibitors who had incurred huge losses during the lockdowns. Looking to the start of the second week, in spite of the new release (Bachchhan Paandey), it can safely be predicted that the film could end up collecting around Rs. 90-95 crore in the second week too! This will easily become the fastest Hindi grosser of all times, that too, with the highest ever Return on Investment (RoI)!!
ET – Etharkkum Thunindhavan (dubbed) fared miserably in the first week all over.
Jhund fared poorly in 2nd week which started with a take of only Rs. 0.55 crore. Collections for Saturday and Sunday were Rs. 0.95 crore and Rs. 1.10 crore respectively. Therefore, the total for the second weekend was Rs. 2.60 crore. Collections for the weekdays were rather pathetic: Monday – Rs. 0.40 crore, Tuesday – Rs. 0.35 crore, Wednesday – Rs. 0.35 crore, Thursday – Rs. 0.30 crore. Hence the total for the weekdays was Rs. 1.40 crore, and for the second week, Rs. 4 crore. Grand total for 2 weeks: Rs. 12.95 crore.
The Batman (dubbed and original English versions) fell by more than 60% in its second week. It netted Rs. 1.65 crore on Friday. Collections more than doubled on Saturday which, therefore, closed at Rs. 3.40 crore. The total for Sunday (Rs. 3.25 crore) was less than that of Saturday. Hence the total for the second weekend was Rs. 8.30 crore. Collections for the weekdays: Monday – Rs. 0.85 crore, Tuesday – Rs. 0.80 crore, Wednesday – Rs. 0.85 crore, Thursday – Rs. 0.85 crore. Therefore, the total for the weekdays was Rs. 3.35 crore. Total for 2nd week: Rs. 11.65 crore. Grand total for 2 weeks: Rs. 42.10 crore.
Gangubai Kathiawadi started its third week with a take of Rs. 2.50 crore on the first day. Collections increased to Rs. 4.25 crore on Saturday, and further to Rs. 5 crore on Sunday. Therefore, the third weekend closed at Rs. 11.75 crore. Collections for the weekdays: Monday – Rs. 1.50 crore, Tuesday – Rs. 1.35 crore, Wednesday – Rs. 1.25 crore, Thursday – Rs. 1.15 crore. Hence the total for the weekdays was Rs. 5.25 crore. In this way, the total for the third week was Rs. 17 crore. Grand total for 3 weeks: Rs. 119.35 crore.
Pawankhind (Marathi) continued its victory march in the fourth week too.