AWARAPAN 2 TO OPEN WITH A BANG; WILL BATWARA 1947 MANAGE A RS. 10 CRORE PLUS OPENING?
The biggest clash of the season will take place tomorrow, August 14, and the excitement is tremendous. Both films – Awarapan 2 and Batwara 1947 – seem promising and can have a healthy run at the box office if word of mouth is positive.
Awarapan 2 is the second part of Awarapan, which released in 2007. Despite positive word of mouth, it was a disaster as it earned just Rs. 7.75 crores. The film clashed with Himesh Reshammiya’s debut film Aap Kaa Surroor and Apne, which brought Sunny Deol, Bobby Deol and Dharmendra together. Both these films had tremendous buzz, due to which Awarapan got completely sidelined.
However, over the years, Awarapan achieved cult status due to its unforgettable music score, Emraan Hashmi’s performance and the emotional and dramatic moments. Moreover, Emraan hasn’t done a film in the mass cinema space for the longest time, and there’s a huge demand among the audience to see him in this avatar. All these reasons have added to the excitement for Awarapan 2.
Besides Emraan Hashmi, Awarapan 2 stars Disha Patani, Shabana Azmi and others. The promotion and trailer have been underwhelming. But that hasn’t dampened the hype for the film. It was expected that the film would open at Rs. 10-12 crores. But ticket sales have been so huge that a Rs. 18-20 crore opening can’t be ruled out. In other words, it’ll earn double the lifetime of Awarapan in just one day!
At this rate, Awarapan 2 can have a weekend of Rs. 60-70 crores and has a shot at Rs. 100 crores. Thus, it has the potential to be Emraan Hashmi’s highest grosser, beating The Dirty Picture, which collected Rs. 79.78 crores.
Meanwhile, Batwara 1947 stars Sunny Deol, Preity Zinta, Shabana Azmi, Ali Fazal and others. It reunites Sunny and director Rajkumar Santoshi after 30 years. Moreover, Aamir Khan is the film’s producer.
The trailer of Batwara 1947 is interesting. However, it hasn’t worked as intended among the audience. The film isn’t appealing to the audience due to the star cast and subject. Moreover, the music isn’t up to the mark. Awarapan 2 is far more exciting for the youngsters.
The advance booking of Batwara 1947 is slow and is expected to open in single digits, around Rs. 7-8 crores. However, if the film packs a punch, it can jump big time on Saturday and Sunday. If it manages to hold steady over the weekdays, it still has a chance.