Finally, a Bollywood movie has been released this year and seems to be doing well. Unchai had an opening of Rs. 1.81 crores when it was first released on Friday but because it only opened in theaters in limited locations, the film needed to rise over the weekend so they could gain more screen time. There are several new releases coming out before week which will compete with Unchai: Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is releasing this Saturday and Drishyam 2 will start releasing next Saturday, so Unchai needs to grow quickly if they want their movie to continue performing well.
Thankfully, even though there are still many days until the release of Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, collections have grown to almost Rs. 5 crore (around $6 million) and gaining momentum quickly on Saturday. The collection on Friday was a breakthrough moment for the film due to its success in exceeding expectations – which otherwise had been low. In addition, while major Hollywood blockbusters often make well over $200 million in North America alone ($300 million+ overseas), Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge is just nearing $5 million so far ($6 million). If Monday surpasses the numbers from Friday when the weekend comes to an end this week, then nothing could stop Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge from becoming one of Bollywood’s highest grossing films ever.
Meanwhile, the game has already been set for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever which has now crossed the 40 crores mark after its opening weekend. That’s quite good because a handful of films have managed that in entire 2022 and most of these have been event films. Here, the Marvel flick is a regular release even from Hollywood and hence for it to fetch these kind of numbers is indeed remarkable. The film saw one of the best days in theatres for any language film ever since the release of Brahmastra* and brought in Rs 15.50 crores** which has helped push its total.*
*Estimates. Final numbers awaited
Note: All collections as per production and distribution sources
