Good Newwz, starring Akshay Kumar, Kareena Kapoor, Diljit Dosanjh and Kiara Advani, brought glad tidings to its producers yesterday. The Raj Mehta film made an opening collection of Rs17.50 crore nett at the domestic box office, as per figures shared by BoxOfficeIndia.com.
This is Akshay Kumar's lowest opener of the year, but by a meagre Rs3 lakh. Housefull 4 had made Rs17.53 crore nett on its first day. His other two releases this year, Kesari and Mission Mangal, had opened with Rs20.40 crore nett and Rs28.45 crore nett, respectively.
Yet, the Good Newwz collection is good, for two reasons. First, the film is more an urban comedy with a mix-up during an IVF (in-vitro fertilization) procedure at the heart of the story. This means there is a good chance the traditional family audience may keep away from the film.
More importantly, this isn't a film made on a huge budget, unlike other Akshay Kumar-starrers these days. According to trade source, Good Newwz has been made on a middle-sized budget of around Rs70 crore. Hence, if the film sees a good jump in collections today and tomorrow, as most pundits expect, it is likely to prove a safe bet for all those associated with it.
Meanwhile, the Salman Khan-starrer Dabangg 3 fell on its second Friday yesterday. The film could only manage a meagre collection of Rs2.75 crore nett. The overall collection at the domestic box office of the action-comedy drama directed by Prabhu Deva now stands at Rs116.50 crore nett. The film, made on an estimated budget of Rs130 crore, is still not out of the woods and may well be the worst performing Salman Khan-starrer since Tubelight (2017).