The Siddharth Anand directorial Fighter hit screens last week on January 25. Starring Hrithik Roshan and Deepika Padukone, the film that promised to be high on patriotic commentary and of course, action, fast emerged as one of the biggest releases of 2024. With immense promotional machinery and PR activity, backing the venture Fighter was all set to go all guns blazing. However, the lacklustre, bordering on dismal advance bookings for the film, stole its thunder. With just Rs. 24.60 cr. coming in on Day 1, Fighter seemed to be flying low on fuel; however, with Republic Day on January 26, the business of Fighter received a much-needed boost seeing a growth of 6.48% on Day 2 with Rs. 41.20 cr. coming in. However, the flight of the falcon was short lived with Fighter going into a nosedive on its third day. Compounding matters further, on its first Monday, Fighter is locked in downward spiral with an impending crash imminent.
In this report, post the massive drop in business Fighter has witnessed we look at a few previous releases that have faced a similar drop. Shockingly, despite the promotions, and PR activities Fighter has in fact registered one of the biggest drops in business on its fifth day, with its collections seeing a dip of 83%. While, the first Monday post release is rightly termed ‘Khooni Monday’ for Fighter, its fifth day has nearly spelt box office doom. When compared to previous releases, the Hrithik – Deepika starrer has surpassed previous releases like the Aamir Khan starrer Thugs of Hindostan that saw a drop of 79.49%. Adipurush that saw a 78.61% drop, Bachchhan Paandey that saw a 74.57% drop, Rangoon that saw a 74.26% drop and even the Kangana Ranaut starrer Tejas that saw a 74.17% drop.
While on one side Fighter lead actor Hrithik Roshan in interviews claims he finds “validation in box office collections”, the evident dismal crash is sure to come as a shock. In fact, looking back Fighter seems to have registered the highest drop in business on its fifth day, based on this fact advance trade predictions do not paint a highly optimistic view. Going forward, with the sever rejection Fighter has seen in both metros and mass dominated sectors, despite the positive reviews, it is unlikely that the business of the film will recover from this spiral. As on now, estimates state that Fighter is likely to run out of box office fuel around the Rs. 170 cr. mark.
Movies that registered the Highest Drop on first Monday as compared to opening day
Fighter - 83%
Thugs of Hindostan - 79.49%
Adipurush - 78.61%
Bachchhan Paandey - 74.57%
Rangoon - 74.26%
Tejas - 74.17%
Shamshera - 72.68%
Shaandaar - 70.86%
Kalank 67.44%
