WILL MAIN ATAL HOON SUCCEED AT THE BOX OFFICE?
Last week’s big release Merry Christmas failed to entice the audience despite appreciation. It opened at Rs. 2 crores and it was expected to see a jump on Saturday and Sunday. While collections jumped to Rs. 3 crores on Saturday, on Sunday, the jump was minimal as it collected Rs. 3.25 crores. Then, there was an expected drop in the weekdays. The first week’s collections are expected to be around Rs. 12-13 crores. This week, the competition is minimal and hence, the makers should hope that the film can cross the Rs. 20 crore mark for a respectable lifetime total.
Hanuman’s Hindi version arrived with very limited promotion and noise. But it emerged as a surprise. It also opened at Rs. 2 crores. The collections then saw a rise – Rs. 3.75 crores on Saturday and Rs. 5.75 crores on Sunday. The Monday and Tuesday collections were Rs. 3.75 crores and Rs. 2.50 crores respectively. In short, the weekday collections are more than that of Friday. This shows that the film has been accepted. It’ll get a huge number of shows in the second week. While the first week’s collections are around Rs. 22 crores, the second week’s earnings might be more. At this rate, Hanuman’s lifetime can be in the range of Rs. 50-60 crores or even higher.
Meanwhile, the new release this week is Main Atal Hoon. It stars Pankaj Tripathi in the role of the ex-Prime Minister of India, Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Famous Marathi director Ravi Jadhav, who also made Sushmita Sen-starrer Taali, helms the biopic. The trailer of the film is intriguing and Pankaj seems to have done a great job. Though there’s a lot of awareness about the film, the excitement is minimal. The ticket sales until now have not been encouraging at all.
As a result, the opening might be around Rs. 1 crore or even less. But such films can go anywhere. If it gets political support like The Kashmir Files, then the collections can jump significantly. Moreover, it releases in the week when the Ram Temple in Ayodhya will be inaugurated. This can also benefit the film in some way. On the other hand, it’ll have just six days to score as the big release of the month, Fighter, starring Hrithik Roshan, will release next Thursday.