Khooni Monday: Bajirao Mastani out matches Dilwale at the box office

This year we have been witnessing quite a few so called underdog films making it big at the box office, and at the same time we also saw a number of big ticket films literally

bite the dust. While the reason for such unpredictable outcomes of films is more often than not relegated to the audience and their tastes, last week's releases Dilwale and Bajirao

Mastani created an electrifying atmosphere. Touted to be one of the biggest on screen clashes in recent times, almost every media house and publication went into a tizzy reporting about the

same. If that wasn't enough social networking sites were abuzz with activity predicting varied outcomes for both films. However, like any debate there are always a few who have been right all

along.


In the case of Dilwale V/s Bajirao Mastani, most stated that the latter featuring Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone and Priyanka Chopra would eventually lose out in terms of business,

when compared to Dilwale that features a mega star cast comprising of Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol, Varun Dhawan and Kriti Sanon. In fact a few so called bollywood gurus went so far as to say that

Dilwale would enjoy a massive share of the audience wallets especially since the film had the added advantage of a higher screen count couple of big star names in its cast. While

Dilwale did rule the domestic box office over the opening weekend, with Bajirao Mastani trailing, all eyes were turned eagerly anticipating the proverbial 'Khooni Monday' a day when

even the best of films record a drop in overall collections. With this in mind we decided to take an analytical view of both films comparing them in terms of box office collections, to understand

which will eventually turn out to be the leader in the long run.


Dilwale, as compared to Bajirao Mastani enjoyed a bigger share of total number of screens in the domestic market witnessing a wider release. Thanks to this, and of course Shah Rukh

Khan's marketing genius the film managed a stellar start, leading the race. However, come Monday Dilwale that collected Rs. 21 crore on Friday, has shown an approx. 52% drop in

collections ending Monday with a collection figure of Rs. 10.09 crores. On the other hand, with positive reviews and good word of mouth Bajirao Mastani that collected Rs. 12.80 crores on

Friday has shown an approx. 19% drop in collections ending the day at Rs. 10.25 crores. Though Dilwale still leads the race in terms of overall collections with a total

of Rs. 75.18 crores, Bajirao Mastani that has managed Rs. 57.02 crores in the same time period, seems better set to surpass Dilwale in the long run.


From this drop in collections, and general audience reaction on social networking sites and media reports, the collections of Dilwale, which despite featuring a strong cast, will continue on

a depreciative note. However, Bajirao Mastani, that has been receiving plenty of praises for its story, production value and of course the actors performances will continue its run at the

box office, becoming the audiences first choice, the film despite decreasing collections will have an incremental approach in the long run.


With this reasoning Bajirao Mastani that will face a bit of competition from the Hollywood release Star Wars: The Force Awakens, this Friday looks set to continue its run at the box

office. In fact the film that has so far been lagging behind in collections might just emerge as the leader, although Dilwale will not be that far behind.