WILL THE COURTROOM DRAMA AND LOVE STORY BRING CHEER AT THE BOX OFFICE?
Last week’s releases, O’Romeo and Tu Yaa Main, have underperformed. As predicted last week, O’Romeo opened at Rs. 7.50 crores. It saw a huge jump on Saturday, when it earned Rs. 11 crores. The Valentine’s Day holiday came to its rescue and also, many preferred to see the film on Saturday than Sunday. The crucial India vs Pakistan T20 match was held on the third day and it impacted collections. Usually, Sunday collections are higher than Saturday. But O’Romeo earned Rs. 8.25 crores on its third day.
From Monday, the makers opted for Buy One Get One (BOGO) Ticket offer. The next day, the discounted Tuesday offer was also implemented. The collections on fourth and fifth day, thus, were Rs. 4.25 crores. The first week collections are expected to be around Rs. 42-43 crores. With barely any competition, the film should aim to at least cross the Rs. 60 crore mark.
Meanwhile, Tu Yaa Main collected just Rs. 50 lakhs, which was way below the expectations of Rs. 1 crore-1.50 crore. Like O’Romeo, this film also jumped on Saturday, collecting Rs. 1.35 crore. On Sunday, the collections slipped to Rs. 75 lakhs. On Monday and Tuesday, Tu Yaa Main earned Rs. 40 lakhs and Rs. 45 lakhs respectively. At this rate, the first week collections are expected to be around Rs. 4.50 crores. Hopefully, the film will remain steady from here on but it won’t help much as the collections are so low. Interestingly, the word of mouth is very positive and yet it hasn’t translated into respectable collections.
This week will also see the release of two films. Assi sees the return of Taapsee Pannu in a hard-hitting role. It is directed by Anubhav Sinha; both had collaborated earlier in Mulk and Thappad. The trailer of Assi packs a punch and has caught attention due to its content and dialogues.
The makers came up with an interesting strategy for promotion. Last month, it was revealed that a film named Assi is coming; it had no mention of the makers, cast, director etc. The next poster mentioned that the highest paid crew member on the film is the writer! Its trailer was attached with Border 2 and that’s where viewers came to knew what the film is about and who is involved.
However, Assi seems to be disturbing and for a niche audience. Taapsee-Anubhav’s last film, Thappad, opened at Rs. 2.76 crores. It was one of the last films before the pandemic hit and since then, things have changed for such films. The best-case scenario is that the film opens at Rs. 1-1.25 crore.
The other release of the week is Do Deewane Seher Mein. It stars Siddhant Chaturvedi and Mrunal Thakur in leading roles. It is directed by Ravi Udyawar who made Mom and who also directed Siddhant in Yudhra. Sanjay Leela Bhansali is involved with the film as a producer.
The trailer of Do Deewane Seher Mein is sweet and it looks like a clean, non-toxic love story. However, the hype is limited while the songs haven’t worked. Like Assi, Do Deewane Seher Mein will also open in the range of Rs. 1 crore and Rs. 1.25 crore. It remains to be seen which film manages to do better on the first day.