Bhooth Bangla worldwide box office collection day 1: Akshay film opens at ₹24 cr; beats Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 but not Thamma

Bhooth Bangla worldwide box office collection day 1: Akshay Kumar has given the fourth-best opening for an Indian horror-comedy.

Bhooth Bangla worldwide box office collection day 1: Akshay Kumar and Priyadarshan’s reunion with Bhooth Bangla has delivered winning returns at the box office. The horror-comedy has taken a strong start in India and is doing decent business overseas on its opening days. This has helped the film register a strong opening for its genre, beating some leading hits in the category, but it hasn't quite reached the top.

Bhooth Bangla worldwide box office collection day 1: Akshay Kumar in the a poster of Bhooth Bangla.

Bhooth Bangla box office update

Bhooth Bangla released on April 17 with paid previews the night before. The Akshay Kumar-starrer had a promising time at the paid previews, earning ₹3.50 crore net in India. On its release day, buoyed by positive reviews, the film earned ₹12.25 crore net, taking its opening-day haul to ₹15.75 crore net ( ₹18.90 crore gross). The film suffered as it saw only about 10% occupancy in the morning shows, but good word of mouth saw that number jump to over 30% by the night shows. This has raised hopes that the film should have a very strong Saturday and see a good jump in domestic collections.

Bhooth Bangla did not have a grand time overseas, but still managed to rake in just over $550K internationally. This takes its global haul to ₹24 crore in the first day.

Bhooth Bangla in the pantheon of horror-comedies

Bhooth Bangla sits near the top of the table in the growing list of Bollywood’s horror-comedies. The genre, popularised by Stree, saw a huge box-office boost with the success of the Bhool Bhulaiyaa sequels and Stree 2. To its credit, Bhooth Bangla managed to upstage Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2’s opening. The Kartik Aaryan-starrer had opened at ₹21 crore worldwide in 2022. However, the Priyadarshan film lags behind Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3, which earned a staggering ₹53 crore on its opening day two years ago. It is also behind Thamma’s ₹31 crore start from last year. Stree 2 remains the gold standard among horror-comedies at the box office. The blockbuster had a record-breaking ₹80-crore start in 2024.

All about Bhooth Bangla

Directed by Priyadarshan, Bhooth Bangla marks the director’s return to Hindi films after five years. It is also his first collaboration with Akshay Kumar in 14 years. The film also stars Tabu, Wamiqa Gabbi, Paresh Rawal, Rajpal Yadav, and Mithila Palkar.