Box office: Bachchhan Paandey crashes on first Monday, The Kashmir Files still goes strong

The Akshay Kumar-starrer Bachchhan Paandey (2022) has crashed at the box office on its first Monday. The film, directed by Farhad Samji, could earn only Rs3.50 crore nett on the day, according to trade website BoxOfficeIndia.com.

The film’s Monday collection dropped more than 70% from its Friday figure of Rs12.25 crore, a big fall for the film which co-stars Kriti Sanon and Arshad Warsi.

Bachchhan Paandey’s grand total currently stands at Rs38.25 crore. According to trade sources, the film was made on a budget of about Rs150 crore. As things stand, the film is unlikely to recover much more than 50% of that cost from its theatrical run.

Along with the mixed reviews it received, Bachchhan Paandey has also been hit by the continuing box-office success of Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri’s The Kashmir Files (2022). The juggernaut continued to roll on, making Rs12.50 crore on its second Monday and taking its overall total to nearly Rs180 crore nett.

It should be remembered, however, that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been booking the film’s shows all over India and giving tickets away free, boosting the collection.

Meanwhile, Nagraj Popatrao Manjule’s critically acclaimed Jhund (2022) is nearing the end of its theatrical run. The Amitabh Bachchan-starrer had earned a mere Rs30 lakh nett on the last day of its second week in cinemas on Thursday 17 March, taking its overall collection to Rs13.51 crore nett.

With Bachchhan Paandey being released on 18 March, shows for Jhund were reduced and the film made only about Rs70 lakh on its third weekend, taking its overall total to Rs14.21 crore nett. The film did most of its business in Maharashtra.