THE KASHMIR FILES IS A BLOCKBUSTER; WILL BACHCHHAN PAANDEY GET AFFECTED?
The unthinkable has happened in the last 7-8 days. The Kashmir Files was expected to open better and pick up substantially. However, the film has turned out to be a blockbuster. The kind of jumps it saw on Saturday and Sunday were historic. The film started with collections of Rs. 3.25 crore on Friday. Saturday collections were Rs. 8.25 crore while on Sunday, it collected a huge Rs. 15 crore.
Usually, films drop on Monday. Tuesday collections are usually lower than that of Monday and Wednesday collections are lower than that of Tuesday. In the case of The Kashmir Files, the Monday collections were the same as that on Sunday (Rs. 15 crore). On Tuesday, the collections jumped to Rs. 17 crore! Wednesday collections have also been higher than Tuesday, as per reports. Till Tuesday, The Kashmir Files has collected Rs. 59 crore. By the end of week 1, it is expected to accumulate in the range of Rs. 95-98 crore.
And that’s not all. Tomorrow is a holiday due to Holi. The advance booking is very strong already in many theatres. Since tomorrow is a Friday, the film has the advantage of a three-day weekend. The trade expects the collections of the film to touch the Rs. 20 crore mark on each of these days in the second weekend.
It now remains to be seen if the collections will see the normal drop from Monday, March 22. If that doesn’t happen, then The Kashmir Files has the potential to cross the Rs. 250 or even the Rs. 300 crore mark!
Due to this unbelievable run of The Kashmir Files, the upcoming film, Bachchhan Paandey, is sure to get affected. It is a big-budget action comedy starring Akshay Kumar, Kriti Sanon, Arshad Warsi and Jacqueline Fernandez. It is directed by Farhad Samji and produced by Sajid Nadiadwala. The trailer promises a lot of action and fun-filled moments. Also, it is mounted on a huge scale and hence, is a film worth watching on the big screen.
However, the hype is limited. The music has not worked at all. It was supposed to have a vast release but that won’t happen as The Kashmir Files is going to retain plenty of screens in Week 2. But what has worried the trade is that even in places where Bachchhan Paandey’s advance booking has opened, the ticket sales are not very encouraging. The hope was that the film will have an opening of Rs. 18-20 crore. At present, it looks like the opening would be in the range of Rs. 10-15 crore. Many in the trade and industry are confident that tomorrow being a holiday, viewers are bound to come to cinemas to watch this film, which seems to be a family entertainer. Hence, the bookings will pick up today or hopefully, viewers will buy tickets on the spot tomorrow.
Word of mouth will also play a big part. An underwhelming opening will still be fine because if the reports are positive, viewers will surely turn up in huge numbers from Saturday or even Friday evening. If the audience gives thumbs down, then Bachchhan Paandey might struggle at the ticket window.