Box office: Samrat Prithviraj opens with Rs10.5 crore; Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 sustains well on third Friday

The epic historical film Samrat Prithviraj (2022), starring Akshay Kumar and Manushi Chhillar, was released yesterday. While the advance bookings and the buzz around the film were poor as evidenced by the Friday morning shows, the film picked up momentum later in some centres.

In regions like Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat, the film saw a big jump in footfalls and collections, but its performance in multiplex circuits continued to be slow. By the end of the day, it had clocked about Rs10.5 crore nett, according to trade website BoxOfficeIndia.com.

Given the improvement in footfalls as Day 1 progressed, the film's Saturday and Sunday business is expected to be good. The first weekend business will be crucial for the historical drama directed by Chandraprakash Dwivedi and produced by Yash Raj Films as it has been mounted on a massive budget of about Rs200 crore.

Meanwhile, despite the release of Samrat Prithviraj resulting in fewer screens for Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 (2022), the Kartik Aaryan-starrer continued to fare well on its third Friday. The horror comedy directed by Anees Bazmee recorded a drop of only 55% from its second Friday business and its total collection at the domestic box office topped Rs143 crore nett.

The other big release of the week, the Telugu-Hindi bilingual Major (2022), directed by Sashi Kiran Tikka and starring Adivi Sesh, had a slow start on Friday with the Hindi version generating only around Rs75 lakh, though the Telugu version had a good opening. The Kamal Haasan-starrer Vikram (2022), directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj, garnered Rs25 lakh nett from the Hindi market.