Akshay Kumar's latest movie Bachchhan Paandey, which hit the screens on March 18, collected a decent Rs 37.25 crore (net) at the domestic box office in three days despite facing competition from The Kashmir Files. It garnered a fair deal of attention due to its 'massy' storyline and engaging dialogues. So did this help the biggie stay stable on March 21, its first Monday? Here's the detailed report.
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Day 4 collection
Most films witness a drop in collection on their first Monday and Bachchhan Paandey proved to be no exception. Its day 4 figure is likely to be between Rs 5 crore and Rs 8 crore, according to the initial collection. If this is indeed the case, the drop will be between 33 per cent and 58 per cent.
Deep dive
While the film put up good numbers in mass markets, it wasn't able to reach its potential due to the positive response to The Kashmir Files, which remained unstoppable in its second week. The flick did not do as well as expected in Karnataka as it hit the screens a day after the late Puneeth Rajkumar's swansong James. The film didn't really cater to movie buffs in movie buffs in Tamil Nadu and the Telugu states as it is set in the Hindi heartland.
The road ahead.
Bachchchhan Paandey has received mixed reviews with critics praising Akshay's work but criticising the middling screenplay. As such, the word of mouth is not as good as expected, which is likely to affect the film in the days to come. The biggie should, however, be able to put up respectable numbers in most markets because of Akki's star power. The action-comedy will, either way, face stiff competition from S S Rajamouli's latest magnum opus Rise Roar Revolt (RRR) when it releases in theatres on March 25.
What's next for 'Khiladi'?
With the Jigarthanda remake in theatres, Akshay is set to turn his attention to Prithviraj, touted to one of the biggest films of his career. It has been directed by Pinjar helmer Chandraprakash Dwivedi and will hit the screens on June 3. Akshay also has films such as Ram Setu, Raksha Bandhan and Mission Cinderella in her kitty.