Box office: Golmaal Again opens at the box office with a stunning Rs33 crore nett

Rohit Shetty’s Golmaal Again enjoyed a bumper opening in the festive Diwali weekend. Shetty’s multi-starrer film has got a record opening for a Hindi film this year bagging a stunning Rs33-34 crore nett collection, as reported by BoxOfficeIndia. 

The Hindi version of SS Rajamouli’s epic Telugu film Baahubali – The Conclusion had bagged Rs40.73 crore nett opening this year. Meanwhile, Salman Khan’s Tubelight had bagged Rs20.55 crore nett, and Shah Rukh Khan’s Raees had fetched an opening day collection of Rs.20.29 nett crore this year.

However, the high production cost of Golmaal Again does pose a challenge. As per trade sources, Shetty’s Golmaal Again was made at an estimated budget of Rs130 crore (including prints & advertising). Distributed by Reliance Entertainment, the film has been released across 3500 screens in India. The multi-starrer film is the fourth instalment in the Golmaal franchise.

The opening day collection of Rs33 crore nett is by far a record opening for the franchise. The first film Golmaal Fun Unlimited (2006) had managed an opening of Rs2.32 crore nett, while the second film Golmaal Returns (2008) bagged Rs5.89 crore nett, and Golmaal 3 (2010) had made Rs8.36 crore nett on its opening day. However, the previous films of the franchise didn't have a budget exceeding Rs100 crore like Golmaal Again, nor did they have such a wide release.

According to trade sources, the satellite rights of Gomaal Again have been sold to Star India for a whopping Rs52.5 crore, while Amazon has bagged the digital rights for Rs10 crore, and the music rights have been sold to T-Series for Rs8 crore.

Golmaal Again is by far the biggest opening for an Ajay Devgn film of all time. Devgn’s Singham Returns (2014), another Rohit Shetty project, bagged a strong opening of Rs31.68 crore nett while being shown in a similar number of screens (3500). The film managed to score over Rs140crore in India. 

Meanwhile, Aamir Khan's home production, Secret Superstar had a better second-day garnering Rs9 crore nett. The film released in theatres on 19th October, and bagged an opening of Rs4.75 crore nett. Currently, the two-day total stands at Rs13.75 crore nett.

Secret Superstar has been sold to Zee Studios at Rs20 crore. The studio now holds the worldwide theatrical rights. As per trade sources, the cost of production is Rs15 crore (excluding Aamir Khan’s fees) with a further Rs9 crore spent on prints and advertising. 

Secret Superstar has largely received positive reviews and it will bank on the word of the mouth to progress. However, Golmaal Again will need to pump in huge numbers over the weekend to make it a success.