Box office: Beauty and the Beast devours Trapped, Aa Gaya Hero and Machine

They all came together (released on 17 March), but in the end it was Beauty and the Beast that stole the show. The Hollywood release bagged Rs6.65 crore nett, while the three Hindi releases — Trapped, Aa Gaya Hero and Machine — didn’t even touch Rs2 crore in their opening weekend collections, as reported by BoxOfficeIndia.com. 

Govinda’s Aa Gaya Hero fared so miserably that it earned Rs65 lakh (approximately) in its opening weekend.

Beauty and the Beast, which released across approximately 600 screens in India, has bagged Rs6.65 crore in its opening weekend. Beauty and the Beast had opened with Rs1.40 crore on Friday, but went on to earn Rs2.50 crore and Rs2.75 crore on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.

Of the three three Hindi releases on the same day, Abbas-Mustan’s Machine had a wide release with approximately 800 screens in India and was made at an approximate budget of Rs25 crore. So far, the film has bagged a mere Rs1.70 crore nett in its opening weekend. The film opened at Rs55 lakh, then dropping to Rs50 lakh on Saturday. The collection improved marginally to Rs65 lakh on Sunday.

Vikramaditya Motwane’s Trapped, which was targeted at a multiplex audience, was released in around 300 screens. Its budget is said to be less than Rs10 crore. The film, which got an opening collection of Rs25 lakh, improved its tally with Rs50 lakh on Saturday and Rs60 lakh on Sunday, thereby taking its three-day total to Rs1.30 crore. Trapped has received positive reviews, but will have to improve its numbers during the first week. 

The biggest loser of the weekend is Govinda, whose Aa Gaya Hero scraped an opening day collection of Rs20 lakh. According to BoxOfficeIndia.com, the film bagged Rs20 lakh and Rs25 lakh nett on Saturday and Sunday, respectively to take its three-day total to a very poor Rs65 lakh.

Govinda’s film had faced a long battle to get screens. The film was initially made as Abhinay Chakra before being reshot thrice to be rechristened as Aa Gaya Hero.

Meanwhile, Varun Dhawan and Alia Bhatt’s Badrinath Ki Dulhania went strong in its second week, bagging Rs17 crore nett to take its total to an impressive Rs88.77 crore. It comfortably beat the three Hindi new releases and Beauty and the Beast.