Punjabi film Ishkaan De Lekhe has emerged as a hit due to its continuous trend at the box office. The second week collection of the Gurnam Bhullar starrer has been higher than the first week, and now its collection continues in the third week against the box office hit Dharandhar: The Revenge. In the third week Rs. Earned more than Rs. Earned around Rs 1.50 crore in six days; The whole week is around Rs. 1.75 crores. The drop in the third week will be about 70 percent, which may seem steep, but consider this: Most of the other holdover movies are out of theaters.
Total box office collection in India was Rs. 11.75 crore nett approx and approx Rs. Earning 12 crores this weekend. The film should do better in the fourth week and probably be on par with the third week. If this happens, it will be around Rs. Can set a target of total sales up to Rs. 15 crores nett. Additionally, the film has grossed over 700K USD (Rs 6.50 crore) overseas. Around 20.50 crores worldwide.
What stands out is that the film has become a hit because of its business outside the state of Punjab, which, well… happens a lot because foreign business outside the state of Punjab is a big driver for Punjabi films. However, this time, its domestic business outside the state of Punjab is doing the heavy lifting. In the second week, the state of Punjab accounted for only 35 percent of the total turnover, and Haryana was ahead of it. This never happens.
NCR cities, Gurugram and Faridabad have spent Rs. Earning of Rs 80 lakh in two weeks. In full swing it should cross Rs. Earning Rs 1 crore, which very few Punjabi films have been able to do. Movies like Carry On Jatta 3 and Jatt & Juliet 3 have collected around Rs. 2 crore nett. It is surprising to have half of them here, whereas the state of Punjab would barely have 20-25 per cent. Notably, Ishkaan De Lekhe was the top film last week in these centres, ahead of The Kerala Story 2, and this was the case in many centers in North India including Delhi, Noida and Jaipur.
It seems style is the difference maker. Last year, tragic love stories like Syara, Tere Ishq Mein and Ek Deewane Ki Deewaniyat emerged as surprise successes. This film is on the same lines and despite being a Punjabi film and not a Hindi film, it is being liked in the cities of the Hindi belt. This reflects the audience’s strong appetite for this genre, which the Hindi film industry would do well to take advantage of.
Also read: Border 2 Worldwide Concluding Box Office Collection: Sunny Deol, Varun Dhawan, Diljit Dosanjh and Ahan Shetty’s film collected Rs. 422 crores