Akshay Kumar and Kriti Sanon’s Bachchhan Paandey, was one of the much-awaited masala movies to release this year. The film after its release has taken an average opening with estimates ranging from INR 11.75 to 13.00 crores. The movie was expected to get a better opening at the box office but has been majorly affected due to the competition from the movies like Anupam Kher’s The Kashmir Files. Bachchhan Paandey also received a more mellow promotional campaign, than something grand, even being an Akshay Kumar starrer.
The opening shows were very ordinary, something not expected for a big-budget masala entertainer. But later the business picked up from the afternoon shows getting many visits from the audience in the theatres. The morning shows got a single-digit start, but the ticket bookings were strong which came as a positive sign for the film. The opening also profited due to the Holi holiday, and with the audience showing support towards the film, it is expected that the business will grow over the weekend.
States like Gujarat and Maharashtra received the strongest viewership. The film mostly based on the mass belts like U.P and Bihar also encouraged the audience engagement in the evening shows as well. Bachchhan Paandey requires a global share of INR 65 to 67 crore to get their proper breakout performance, which will ultimately benefit the film.
The opening of Bachchhan Paandey would have been better by at-least 25% if it did not receive strong competition from the Anupam Kher starrer The Kashmir Files. Dealing with much serious content it came as a huge competition to this masala entertainer. Still, the makers managed to get a respectable screen count to showcase their film. Akshay Kumar’s popularity also created hype and helped the producers fetch better showcasing in cinema halls all across the country, despite the strong competition.
Now the weekend’s growth will tell where the film is headed. Bachchhan Paandey stars Akshay Kumar, Kriti Sanon, Arshad Warsi, Jacqueline Fernandez, Pankaj Tripathi in major roles.
The story revolves around the self-proclaimed don of Bhagwa, Bachchan Pandey, who has unleashed his reign of terror by killing people mercilessly who dares to challenge him. Adding to this a budding director, Myra along with her actor-friend Vishu decides to make a biopic on the said don which follows with the unexpected events taking place in the movie. The film often feels more like a dark comedy than the general slapstick humor, as it heavily shows gore combined with witty jokes and puns. Released on March 18, 2022, the film has received mixed reviews from both critics and the audience. Now we have to wait to see how it performs at the weekend.
Bachchhan Paandey is directed by Farhad Samji and produced by Sajid Nadiadwala. It is a remake of the 2014 Tamil film Jigarthanda, starring Siddharth, Bobby Simha, Lakshmi Menon, Karunakaran, and Guru Somasundaram. It itself was an inspiration from the 2006 South Korean movie A Dirty Carnival.
