In the era of boycott, Bramhastra brings people back to theatres

One swallow does not a summer make, but in hit-starved Bollywood, a weekend of rich pickings at the box office has sent a shiver of excitement

Mumbai One swallow does not a summer make, but in hit-starved Bollywood, a weekend of rich pickings at the box office has sent a shiver of excitement.

Bramhastra Part One: Shiva, the Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt-starrer which has been ten years in the making, has earned ₹225 crore in just four days since its release on Friday (ANI)

Bramhastra Part One: Shiva, the Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt-starrer which has been ten years in the making, has earned ₹225 crore in just four days since its release on Friday. The film, one of the most expensively made at ₹410 crore, is still far from profitable, but what has brought cheer to Bollywood is that the audience is returning to the theatres to watch a Hindi film after long. Gautam Dutta, chief executive officer, PVR Limited, said that all cinema halls of the multiplex chain in the country saw an average occupancy rate of 60%.

Leading trade analyst Taran Adarsh who had rated the film poorly in his review, conceded that the film did “exceptionally well over the weekend, and in the south, the film’s Telugu version did really well too.”

“I’ve always maintained one thing – and this holds true for all films. Over the years, be it IPL, the examination period, be it bad weather, or for that matter boycott calls, if the film finds patronage by the paying audience, nothing can affect it. The audience verdict is the final verdict and you have to bow down to the janta janardhan,” Adarsh said.

Amid calls for boycotting the film—something that dogged Aamir Khan’s Lal Singh Chaddha as well-- the net box office collections of Bramhastra grew day-on-day in the first weekend of its showing at PVR theatres across the country. On Friday, a holiday on account of Anant Chaturdashi, its all-India collection (across all languages) was ₹8.18 crore. The second day’s collection was recorded at ₹9.64 crore while Sunday’s collection rose to ₹10.60 crore.

PVR, which has 858 screens across the country, is showing the film in 700 of them. The movie has been released in 8,913 screens worldwide.

On Saturday, Kamal Gianchandani, CEO, PVR Pictures Ltd, tweeted the opening day box office collections of all of this year’s hits as recorded at PVR -- Sooryavanshi registered ₹5.08 crore on opening day; Gangubai Kathiawadi collected ₹2.48 crore; RRR collected ₹8.64 crore; KGF 2 recorded ₹11.95 crore and Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 recorded ₹3.26 crore on its Day One. Gianchandani’s clarification came amidst a slew of fake reports that suggested PVR had suffered a cumulative loss of ₹800 crore on account of Bramhastra.

“It amazes me, the false and negative info about @BramhastraFilm on the internet and in the media. Is it lack of understanding or is it intentionally designed to cast doubts? Just so that we don’t miss crucial FACTS, I can now confirm that @_PVRCinemas did 8.18 cr Net BO on Day 1,” read the first of his series of tweets on the film.

Hashtag BoycottBramhastra has been trending on twitter since the film’s release. A video clip by Indic Spectrum used selective clips of the film’s stars and producer to call for a take-down of the movie and its stars, and on Monday, actress Kangna Ranaut called the collection figures of the film ‘fake’ on her Instagram account.

However, Adarsh said the boycott calls could well have impacted the film’ fortunes but two things seemed to have worked for the film. “The youth – teenagers, young adults have taken to the film in a very big way, they have especially liked the visual effects. The other reason is the star pair. People love them, and seeing them together for the first time, is a major plus for Bramhastra,” he said.