Punjabi film Bambukat 2 had a disappointing opening at the Indian box office and collected Rs. Earning around Rs 55 lakh on the first day (total Rs 45 lakh). Overseas was slightly better, where it earned around 200K USD (Rs 1.85 crore), giving it a worldwide first day total of around Rs. 2.50 crores.
Starring Ammy Virk and Binu Dhillon, Bambukat 2 is the sequel to the 2016 blockbuster, Bambukat. The original film had a bumper opening of Rs 200 crore. It grossed ₹1.60 crore (₹1.48 crore) in India, which was the fourth highest opening for a Punjabi film at that time. In comparison, the sequel managed less than half of that figure, closer to a third in fact, which is undeniably disappointing.
The Punjabi film box office in India has fallen from its peak in the 2010s, when the business was growing and peaked towards the end of the decade. Apart from the quality of films, one of the major driving factors is demographic change. The sustained wave of migration in the late 2010s and early 2020s has reshaped the core audience base. A large portion of the business has shifted from India to overseas markets such as Canada and Australia. It is now common for collections abroad to be several times larger than those in India. In contrast, before Covid, the business used to be more domestic-heavy, with hardly any film earning more overseas than in India.
Additionally, the industry is facing a double whammy as some potentially big-grossing films have been left out, which did not get a release in India due to external factors, such as having Pakistani cast (Sardaar Zee 3 and Chal Mera Putt 4) or facing censor issues (Punjab 95). Audiences are not as eager to give original films a chance as they were in the last decade, with only comedy sequels becoming popular from time to time. However, lately, some of these comedy sequels have also been failing, Bambukat 2 seems to be the latest addition to that list.
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