Director Abhishek Kapoor has had a tough time in getting his film Kedarnath (2018) released. The film was delayed as result of financial disputes with initial producers KriArj Entertainment. Ronnie Screwvala then took over the reigns of production and the film was theatrically released on 7 December.
There were concerns whether releasing Kedarnath only a week after S Shankar's big-budget 2.0 hit the screens on 29 November would hamper the former's business. Kedarnath though has done well in its opening weekend, earning Rs27.75 crore nett.
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Made at an estimated budget of Rs60 crore, the film had released in over 1,850 screens across India.
After a good opening of Rs7.25 crore nett on Friday (7 December), Kedarnath's earnings further improved over the weekend, making Rs9.75 crore nett on Saturday (8 December) and Rs10.75 crore nett on Sunday (9 December).
The opening weekend figure of Kedarnath comes as a relief to Sushant Singh Rajput. After experiencing a career-high with MS Dhoni: The Untold Story (2016), that made Rs119.crore nett in India, Rajput’s next film Raabta (2017) failed at the box office, earning just Rs21.68 crore nett.
It is an impressive debut for Sara Ali Khan, daughter of actor Saif Ali Khan and his ex-wife actress Amrita Singh, as her performance as Mandakini aka Mukku is being widely lauded.
2.0 made Rs26.25 crore nett in its second weekend. The Hindi version of the film has so far earned Rs163.75 crore nett in India. 2.0 was made on a staggering budget of Rs543 crore by Lyca Productions and the Hindi version alone released in 4,000 screens.
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With Shah Rukh Khan’s Zero releasing on 21 December, Abhishek Kapoor and Ronnie Screwvala would hope their film, based on a love story set in the backdrop of the 2013 flash floods in Kedarnath, makes the most until then.