FIGHTER UNDERPERFORMS DESPITE ACCLAIM
The Hrithik Roshan-Deepika Padukone starrer Fighter was released last Thursday with humongous expectations. The advance ticket sales had made it clear that it wouldn’t have a strong opening. It opened at Rs. 23 crores and yet, the hopes were high as the word of mouth was terrific. On Republic Day, it jumped to Rs. 38.50 crores, spreading cheer in the industry. The Saturday drop was a bit too much as it fell to Rs. 26 crores. The Sunday number had to be more than Rs. 30 crores for it to have a chance. Alas, the Sunday growth was limited and it collected Rs. 27 crores.
Yet, all was not lost and if Monday numbers were in double digits, it would have had a shot at crossing the Rs. 200 crore mark. On Monday, however, the numbers plummeted to Rs. 7.25 crores, sending shockwaves. It collected Rs. 6.50 crores and Rs. 6 crores on Tuesday and Wednesday respectively. Hence, it is holding steady on the weekdays, but at low levels. The first week’s collections are expected to be around Rs. 140 crores.
There’s thankfully no competition tomorrow. Hence, it’ll have an open run and collections will be in the range of Rs. 30-40 crores in Week 2. In Week 3, the collections will see a massive fall as the shows will be usurped by Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya.
What saddened many is that Fighter is having such a run though it enjoyed very strong reports. However, the B and C centres and even the single screens in cities didn’t perform as expected. The masses found the film too Westernized. In the absence of mass patronage, the film suffered.
Even in multiplexes, the film didn’t get the required support in IMAX, it seems. From February 2, Fighter will play with 2 shows in most IMAX theatres while 3 shows have been allotted to a small Hollywood film, Argylle.