It was a rather disappointing weekend for the much awaited Kabir Khan film, 83, with Ranveer Singh in lead as the film collected in the range of Rs. 16.75 to 18.00 crores on Sunday taking the three day total to approx. Rs. 47 crore plus. Despite the big national holiday of Christmas, wherein Bollywood films like Tiger Zinda Hai and Dangal, have created All-time single day record, the collections of 83 are much below the mark.
Of the Rs. 46 crore over the opening weekend, around Rs. 28 crores have come from the three national chains - PVR, Inox and Cinepolis - with all the other single screens and non national chains failing to put up a show. The final figure of 83 might be marginally higher than the aforementioned estimate as finally there was a little jump in single screens on Sunday and there would be a clear idea on exact figure in interiors only by Monday morning.
It's not as if the audience are not stepping out to watch movies on the big screen, as Spider Man: No Way Home and Pushpa, continued to collect in their second weekend. The two films were unaffected by the reduction in show-count, as also the so-called fear of Omicron, as the audience were more than happy to experience them on the big screen.
The only reason why 83 has not done upto the mark is certainly the lack of interest among the audience to watch this film, backed up with the fact that the ticket rates were astronomical taking the film out of reach of a common man. The word of mouth among the audience too doesn't seem to be as strong as one expected it to be following the media screenings and glowing reviews. The reports in mass belts in particular are not upto the mark, whereas the metros still have a positive talk. The non commercial approach is said to be the key reason for not so good talk in the mass belts.
The budget of 83 is on the higher side and the weekend biz is almost curtains down for the film, as it needs a miracle from hereon to breakeven. But well, IMPOSSIBLE at-times also reads I-M-POSSIBLE. So let's wait and watch for the Monday test and see if day four collections are on par with the opening day.
