Box office: Badhaai Ho earns Rs7.50 crore, Namaste England fares poorly with Rs1.75 crore on opening day

Director Amit Ravindernath Sharma’s first two directorials Tedhi Lakeer (2004) and Tevar (2015) didn’t quite hit the right notes at the box office. However, it seems his next directorial Badhaai Ho, that released on 18 October, is moving on the right track. 

The film, starring Ayushmann Khurrana, Sanya Malhotra, Neena Gupta and Gajraj Rao, earned Rs7.25-7.50 crore on its opening day at the domestic box office, as per figures shared by Boxofficeindia.com. 18 October was a public holiday on the ocassion of Dussehra. This coupled with the positive reviews and word-of-mouth helped the film immensely. 

As per trade sources, Badhaai Ho is made at a cost of Rs30 crore. With such a good number already in its kitty and three more days still remaining in the first weekend, the film is expected to finish its first weekend with a big number. 

Badhaai Ho has become the eight highest opener of the year, leaving behind hits like Raazi and Stree, that made Rs7.33 crore and Rs6.62 crore, respectively. With Rs25 crore, Ahmed Khan's Baaghi 2 is still the highest opener of the year. 

On the other hand, Vipul Amrutlal Shah’s Namaste England, which also released yesterday, opened to a poor number. The film, starring Arjun Kapoor and Parineeti Chopra, made only Rs1.50-1.75 crore. 

Apart from the negative reviews, what works against the film is that it is made at an estimated budget of over Rs50 crore. Needless to say, the film will have to struggle from here on.