Batti Gul Meter Chalu box office day 1: Shahid Kapoor film starts on a dull note, makes Rs 6.7 crore

Shahid Kapoor and Shraddha Kapoor’s Batti Gul Meter Chalu hasn’t taken off to a great start at the box office and will have to pick up in the next two days for a respectable weekend.

Batti Gul Meter Chalu, despite the presence of popular stars such as Shahid Kapoor, Shraddha Kapoor and Yami Gautam, has had a dull start at the box office. Trade analyst Taran Adarsh is of the opinion that if the film has to do well, it will need to multiply two or threefold over the weekend. At the end of day 1, the film has managed Rs 6.76 crores.

Batti Gul Meter Chalu stars Shahid Kapoor, Shraddha Kapoor and Yami Gautam in lead roles.

Tweeting the news, Adarsh wrote: “#BattiGulMeterChalu has a low Day 1, despite partial holiday... Biz will have to multiply two-fold or three-fold on Day 2 and Day 3 for a respectable weekend total... Fri 6.76 cr. India biz. #BGMC.”

Batti Gul Meter Chalu has a number of positives on its side -- director Shree Narayan Singh was riding high after the phenomenal success of Akshay Kumar-starrer Toilet Ek Prem Katha. Shahid remains a popular actor, with his last film, Padmaavat, having done well at the box office - although his was more of a supporting role. Shraddha Kapoor recently tasted success after her film Stree’s surprise success run at the box office. Stree has made Rs 114 crore so far.

After having addressed the topic of sanitation in his previous film, Singh dealt with another pressing social concern -- the issue of exorbitant electricity bills. In the trailer, we saw how Shahid’s friend starts a small business, but is overwhelmed by high bills, which he fails to pay and thus resorts to suicide. His death acts as catalyst in Shahid’s life and he vows to take revenge on the corrupt electricity companies by fighting them in court, as a lawyer.

The Hindustan Times review says that the Shahid Kapoor, Shraddha Kapoor film chooses a serious subject but is let down by its clunky execution. The film, it says, “had a lot of promise, but just like the government it targets, it fails to deliver”.

It may be recalled that Shahid was not available to promote the film full time; first, because he had to take a week-long paternity leave around the birth of his son Zain and later, he had to pull out again when his daughter, Misha, fell ill.

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