Shehzada box office day 3 collection: Kartik Aaryan film shows little growth, earns ₹20 crore in opening weekend

Shehzada box office: Kartik Aaryan and Kriti Sanon's film failed to improve its performance on Sunday, taking its opening weekend collection to ₹20.2 crore.

Kartik Aaryan and Kriti Sanon's new release, Shehzada, failed to get the expected response at the box office. After an average opening of ₹6 crore on Friday, it showed little improvement in its first weekend and collected ₹20.2 crore in three days. The film, which also marks Kartik's debut as a co-producer, received mixed response from critics.

Kartik Aaryan and Kriti Sanon in a still from Shehzada.

Sharing the weekend collections of the film, film trade analyst Taran Adarsh wrote on Twitter on Monday, “Shehzada doesn’t live up to the expectations… The weekend biz is below the mark… The *big* jump / turnaround on Saturday and Sunday - to improve its prospects - is clearly missing… Friday ₹6 cr, Saturday ₹6.65 cr, Sunday ₹7.55 cr. Total: ₹20.20 crore [+/-]. India biz (business).”

After an average opening, Shehzada hardly showed any improvement on the off days with collections of just ₹6.65 crore on Saturday and ₹7.55 crore on Sunday. Commenting on the opening figures, film trade analyst Komal Nahta had told Hindustan Times, “It’s a flop right from the word ‘go’.”

An excerpt from the Hindustan Times review of the film read, “Shehzada, the Hindi remake of Allu Arjun's Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo (2020), is a complete star vehicle for Kartik Aaryan. The film completely revolves around the actor, even neglecting other characters and storylines in favour of its lead. The actor is convincing enough in this old-fashioned tale of babies switched at birth and a motivation for revenge which exceeds everything.”

Talking about her role in Shehzada which critics found unimpressive, Kriti had told PTI in an interview ahead of the release, “This is closest to me as a character. I didn’t need to step into another person. This was more of a fun flowing, easy to do sort of a role. I haven’t had that glam avatar for a while as I have been doing small-town roles. It is nice and refreshing to break.”