Hrithik Roshan, Deepika Padukone, and Anil Kapoor's Fighter has recorded below-average responses in the advance bookings. The Siddharth Anand directorial is closing its advance booking with 1.40 lakh pre-sales in the top three national chains – PVR, Inox, and Cinepolis, which is roughly 55% lower than films like Brahmastra and Tiger 3. The film should have ideally topped at least 2 lakh ticket sales in PVR, Inox, and Cinepolis, however, it's 30 percent lower than even the bare minimum expectations.
With this advance booking, Fighter is targeting an opening day in the zone of Rs. 22 to 24 crores, and that will also happen only if the film commands strong word of mouth and walk-in audiences towards the evening and night shows owing to the National Holiday on Day 2. The bulk business for Fighter is coming in from the national multiplex chains, and the mass audience is awaiting the talk to book their tickets.
Ideally, Fighter should have opened in the North of Rs. 35 crores, but that is not happening and one can list down multiple reasons for the same. It's a pity that a big-budget aerial action film with top stars and top directors suffered from a very poor marketing and PR campaign and the producers need to relook at their strategies for positioning big-ticket entertainers. A film like Fighter should have easily looked at a Rs. 35 to 40 crore on day one, but there just isn't enough awareness in the on-ground audience.
The film will be looking to showcase a big jump in collections on January 26 owing to strong word of mouth and it's the journey from there that will decide the fate of this aerial action thriller.
