The Hindi film industry had pinned a lot of hopes from this week’s two big releases, Laal Singh Chaddha (2022) and Raksha Bandhan (2022). Unfortunately, none of the two films have had a positive opening at the box office.
Starring Aamir Khan and Kareena Kapoor Khan, Laal Singh Chaddha opened at only Rs11.50 crore nett, as per figures shared by the trade website BoxOfficeIndia.com. The number is low considering how Khan’s films have performed at the box office since more than a decade. In fact, his last solo outing Thugs Of Hindostan (2018) had opened at a mammoth Rs48.27 crore despite it being a flop and not up-to-the-mark.
More than that, the opening number of Laal Singh Chaddha, directed by Advait Chandan, is also low considering its huge budget of Rs180 crore, as per our trade sources. With such an opening, the film needs almost a miracle to finish off with a good number at the ticket window. This looks difficult because of the not-so-impressive word of mouth and reviews it has generated.
Directed by Aanand L Rai and starring Akshay Kumar, Raksha Bandhan also hasn’t opened well at Rs8 crore. The number is lower than Akshay’s last two films this year, Bachchhan Paandey [Rs12.18 crore] and Samrat Prithviraj [Rs10.58 crore], which were also flops.
But Raksha Bandhan’s opening can be considered better than Laal Singh Chaddha’s since its budget is much lower at Rs70 crore. But it still needs a major jump on 11 and 12 August to make a mark at the box office.