Two starkly different love stories made their way into theatres last Friday (10 November) — Qarib Qarib Singlle, an unconventional one featuring Irrfan Khan and Parvathy and revenge drama Shaadi Mein Zaroor Aana with Rajkummar Rao and Kriti Kharbanda.
Qarib Qarib Singlle had a fairly decent opening weekend with Rs8.20 crore nett, while Shaadi Mein Zaroor Aana collected Rs3.65 rore nett, as reported by BoxOfficeIndia.com.
Directed by Tanuja Chandra, Qarib Qarib Singlle had opened poorly with just Rs1.70 crore nett, before it picked up on the weekend. It collected Rs3 crore and Rs3.5 crore nett on Saturday and Sunday, respectively. The film is made at an estimated budget of Rs20 crore (including prints and advertisement) and it has been released across 1,000 screens in India.
Meanwhile, first-time director Ratna Sinhas’s Shaadi Mein Zaroor Aana had poor opening day collections of Rs65 lakh nett. This figure doubled up on Saturday (Rs1.35 crore nett), but there was hardly any improvement in the Sunday collections at Rs1.65 crore nett.
As per trade sources, Shaadi Mein Zaroor Aana's estimated budget (including prints and screens) is around Rs15 crore. The film has been released across 800-1,000 screens.
“The two films are made made at a low cost, and each of them have got roughly 1,000 screens. Qarib Qarib Singlle has fared better, but Shaadi Mein Zaroor Aana’s collection doubled up on Saturday. The latter has picked up in tier 2 and tier 3 cities, and it is largely catering to the audience. The two news films, though, still lag behind Hollywood film Thor: Ragnarok which made some Rs10 crore in its second weekend business," informed film exhibitor Akshaye Rathi.
Thor: Ragnarok made Rs9.50 crore nett on its second weekend, taking its India business so far to Rs49.80 crore nett. It has been released across 1,200-1,350 screens in India.