It was foretold by this columnist that Goodbye would most likely open up to a Rs. 2 crore range – at the very least. The reasoning behind this prediction stemmed from the fact that Piku’s vibes were very similar to Goodbye and when the Amitabh Bachchan, Deepika Padukone and Irrfan Khan-led movie opened with Rs. 5.3 crores then this one starring Rashmika Mandanna- making her Bollywood debut in an Amitabh Bachchan-helmed movie – would probably start off somewhere around there too. This prediction is also made knowing that audiences are now far more selective than ever before thanks to today’s OTT (Over-the-Top) world we live in.
Nevertheless, that the film collected just Rs. 0.93 crore was definitely no coincidence; after all, this wasn’t the first time a movie like Jhund has done well after COVID regulations were imposed. Indeed, for example, Rocky Too had also begun its life collecting Rs. 1.38 crores despite similar limitations against new releases in place at the time – and with high quality productions like Rocketty (Rs. 0.94 crores), Dobaaraa (Rs. 0.72 crores), Dhaakad (Rs. 0.55 crores), Nikkammaa (Rs 60 lakhs) and Janhit Mein Jaari (Rs 44 lakhs) having opened below it already this year alone!
Vikram Vedha isn’t doing any great business either as the collections came down even lower to Rs. 2.54 crores on the second Friday. Those are still the best among all Hindi movies currently playing, yet that’s little consolation given how badly it needed to do better – because this movie starring Saif Ali Khan and Hrithik Roshan really deserved to do better so far. So far, numbers have climbed up to Rs. 61.11 crores which will easily be passed by close of next week; but ultimately we’re looking at an end goal of only hitting Rs. 85 crores over its lifetime (or so).
Meanwhile, PS-1 (Hindi) is doing modest business on the lower end, what with Rs. 75 Lakhs* more coming in. Considering that and the hold it has shown so far – now up to about Dussehra’s numbers – this Mani Ratnam directed Epic Saga has managed to get Hindi-speaking audiences excited too to some extent. Right now they are at Rs. 15 crores; this number should rise past the Rs. 20 Crores mark in Week 2.
*Estimates. Final numbers awaited
Note: All collections as per production and distribution sources
