Neeraj Pandey’s romantic-drama film ‘Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha’ starring Ajay Devgn and Tabu has failed the first Monday test. The film which opened at the box office with a modest collection of Rs 1.85 crore on August 2, saw its collections fall further on the first Monday i.e. August 5, which has reduced the chances of it picking up pace in the coming weekdays.

According to industry tracker Sacnilk, early estimates suggest that ‘Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha’ may only gross Rs 1 crore on Monday. This takes the film’s total collection to Rs 7.75 crore, with a total Hindi occupancy of 8.82 per cent. This is significantly lower than Sunday, when the film earned Rs 2.75 crore.

Auron Mein Kahaan Dum Tha has performed worse than Ajay Devgn’s last release, sports-drama Maidaan, which ended its first weekend at the box office with Rs 19.55 crore. Its first Monday was slightly better than Auron Mein Kahaan Dum Tha, as it earned Rs 1.20 crore on its first Monday.

Even for director Neeraj Pandey, who is known for films like Aiyaary, MS Dhoni: The Untold Story, Special 26, Baby and A Wednesday, Auryon Mein Kahan Dum Tha has turned out to be the weakest box office performer in his list of films. Even Manoj Bajpayee and Sidharth Malhotra starrer Aiyaary, released in 2018, though a flop, earned a decent Rs 11.07 crore in the first weekend.

Not only was the others lacking in potential, but another big film Uljhan starring Janhvi Kapoor and Gulshan Devaiah released last Friday also failed to draw people to the cinema halls. Its performance at the ticket counters has been even worse, earning only Rs 5.50 crore after four days of release.

The Hindi film industry, which is already seeing a drop in its box office earnings in 2024, is now pinning its hopes on upcoming Independence Day releases: Stree 2, Vedas, and Khel Khel Mein.