Varun Dhawan, Shraddha Kapoor and Prabhudeva stepped back into the world of Remo D’Souza’s ‘Street Dancer 3D,’ which debuted this Friday. The dance-drama took an underwhelming opening day at the box office, earning a little over Rs. 10 crore total (approximately $1 million). Based on projections from pre-release reviews by industry insiders, the film was predicted to earn around Rs. 13 – 15 crores ($1.85-$2.40 million), similar to what ‘ABCD 2’ earned when it opened two years ago (Rs. 14 .3 crores, or $2 .08million).
One would expect younger viewers to patronize the movie considering the demographic and star cast. The film isn’t doing well despite having a good release in locations such as Mumbai or Bihar. A change of scenery could have made matters better, but Ajay Devgn’s Tanhaji is a direct competitor who follows Street Dancer very closely on its third Friday. To make matters worse, audiences in rural areas are less receptive than those in films like Marjaavaan (starring Sidharth Malhotra).
Reports show that the movie will need a comeback tomorrow and maybe even Monday to get ahead of itself so it can be declared successful because right now, the total looks dismal. Ideally, there should’ve been more people coming out for this movie; especially when you consider how strong it is before competition catches up with it.
Panga starring Kangana Ranaut, the second release of this week, was met with less than favorable box office reception. Early estimates put its first-day earnings just below three crore rupees – which falls noticeably short of expectations. Reviews are generally favorable towards the movie, but since it debuted to empty seats throughout most theatres in India, it may not come close to doubling up on Saturday or Sunday either.
Occupancy has been low all over; nonetheless, Delhi and Punjab were better off due to its ‘local flavor.’ Without an upward trend soon, Panga is expected to collect even less money than Deepika Padukone’s recent bomb Chhapaak. Tomorrow’s trend will tell us whether Panga can find success when compared to other films released this year so far – looking at its past performance today could make us pessimistic about it being able last long enough for much more.
Tanhaji continues its remarkable performance at the box office as it grosses Rs 5 crores for this week. It has now entered the Rs 200 Crore Club and is currently doing well in Maharashtra. Republic Day Collections have amassed Rs 10 crores so far and are likely to cross Rs 100 Crore very soon, which would bring Tanhaji close to being worth a half-a-billion rupees!
