Horror comedy Bhoot Bangla is doing well at the Indian box office. As of 4:30 pm on Wednesday, the Akshay Kumar starrer has sold around 20,000 tickets across two national chains, PVRINOX and Cinepolis, for its opening day. Of those, 10,500 tickets have been sold for Thursday’s preview and 9,000 for Friday’s opening day.
By EOD today it will cross 25,000 ticket sales, possibly closer to 30,000. Looking ahead, the film is on track to sell around 60,000-70,000 tickets by the time the preview shows begin tomorrow night. In comparison, Akshay Kumar’s previous two films, Housefull 5 and Jolly LLB 3, sold 96,000 and 45,000 tickets in both the national chains on their opening day. The pre-sales of Jolly LLB 3 were disrupted due to the VPF conflict between exhibitors and distributors, which means Housefull 5 is a better comp. Direct comp is around Rs. Would suggest an early day of. Total gross of 15 crores, including previews of Bhoot Bangla. Provided it gets better walkup during the day, it may go a little higher.
This is in line with Pinkvilla Predicts’ forecast of Rs. 12-16 crores on first day, including previews.
This will be a good start for the film, especially if it gets a lot of support from the audience. The costs involved are very reasonable, and recovery should also not be a problem. With solid non-theatrical recovery, the pressure on dramatic performance is relatively low. That said, theatrical recognition remains important, and inaugurations provide a platform. If the audience reception is positive, the film has the potential to build on this start and perform well throughout its lifetime.
The industry is currently riding on the positive wave of a big blockbuster named Dhurandhar: The Revenge. Earlier, Mardaani 3 and The Kerala Story 2 had performed quite well. Although they weren’t massive hits or anything, their results were definitely positive. If Bhoot Bangla does well, it will be another chance at hand. Some other small and medium scale films are going to be released next month. Hope Bhoot Bangla and those movies continue the positive trend.
Also read: Opinion: Is Dhurandhar’s dominance a boon to save Bollywood or a curse to silence competition?