Dhurandhar is looking to put over Rs. 24 crore nett on its fifth day at the Indian box office. Although the film didn’t have discounted tickets today, as has been the case on Tuesdays lately, the film still managed to go up by around 15 per cent, which is either because of A) the extra audience for cheaper tickets came out of habit or B) the film is catching up to demand with the spread of word of mouth.
Either way, this is a superb number for the film, taking its total earnings to Rs. 136 crore nett. The first week is now on course to collect over Rs. 170 crore nett, possibly closer to Rs. 175 crore. That is an outstanding result for a film that seemed like it would be opening to mid-teens from pre-sales, and of course, with all the commercial limitations that were there for the film of this genre and style.
Based on the trend, the film is certain to surpass the Rs. 300 crore nett mark and is likely gunning for the Rs. 400 crore plus. It will be getting the help from the holiday period at the end of the month, and there isn’t a big competition either. The film can easily have run till Border 2 arrives on Republic Day next month.
That’s the picture on face value. As for how much of the collections are organic, that remains difficult to gauge. There is still feeding involved in it, whether the quantum is on the same level as the weekend or has it been eased out a bit, it’s tough to say. Logically, with the film now carrying its own momentum, there would be little reason to sustain heavy feeding. At the same time, it cannot be withdrawn abruptly without causing an unnatural drop, so a gradual tapering is the more likely scenario, with collections normalising by the second weekend.
The makers of the film showed immense confidence in the film, putting so much of their resources into a film like this, which had limitations commercially. The confidence was there in marketing too, as they kept a lot under wraps, giving the audiences a chance to experience it fresh in theatres. They probably got cold feet and lost some of their confidence in the end, indulging in manufacturing box office numbers. This has cost the film of positivity in the industry that the organic growth in trend would have brought.
If one sees the overseas box office, the appreciation is there to see with film displaying an exceptional trend across the board. The assumption is that it’s the same in India as well, just not the certainty of how much.
The Box Office Numbers of Dhurandhar in India are as follows:
Day
Nett
Friday
Rs. 24.50 cr.
Saturday
Rs. 28.50 cr.
Sunday
Rs. 37.50 cr.
Monday
Rs. 21.00 cr.
Tuesday
Rs. 24.50 cr.
Total
Rs. 136.00 cr.