By and large it was a low day for Bollywood as overall just a little over Rs. 2 crores came in. That’s not good at all since the industry needs a big Bollywood biggie as well to keep the exhibition and distribution sector going, and the wait has turned out to be longer than expected as the last blockbuster was Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 that came two months back.
Both HIT - The First Case and Shabaash Mithu have opened low, though former is at least being par since it has collected what was expected out of it. The numbers stood at Rs. 1.35 crores which is as expected. What’s surprising is that the collections are even lower than Badhaai Do which had collected Rs. 1.65 crores on its opening day, and that too when it was the first new theatrical release after the third wave subsidised and theatres were operational only at 50% capacity and sans night shows!
On the other hand Shabaash Mithu was very poor with only Rs. 0.50 crores* coming in. The collections can be compared with Saina, another film about the greatest Indian female badminton player Saina Nehwal. That film had collected Rs. 0.15 crores on its first day and now the Taapsee Pannu is just marginally better. One expected the film to touch at least 1 crore since it’s taking about Mithali Raj, the No. 1 female cricketer from India, but then there was simply no awareness about it.
Meanwhile, JugJugg Jeeyo does have awareness factor working for it and that’s what allowed it to collect Rs. 0.40 crores on its fourth Friday. The collections have now come down to the low levels but then what’s coming in is an added bonus for the Raj Mehta directed film. It has collected Rs. 81.37 crores so far and should go past the Rs. 85 crores mark in its lifetime.
*Estimates. Final numbers awaited
Note: All collections as per production and distribution sources
