Hindi News

Box-Office RoundUp: ‘Vivegam’ In The Rs 100-Crore Club; ‘A Gentleman’ Disappoints

By Sanjana Chakraborty

A number of big films released last weekend. Ajith Kumar’s highly anticipated film with director Siva, Vivegam, released a day ahead of the usual Friday releases, on 24 August across the world, with a whopping opening of Rs 1.2 crore on the first day in Chennai. The film, released in over 3,000 theatres worldwide and 800 theatres in Tamil Nadu has witnessed the best opening day ever for an Ajith film.

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

While there no other Tamil film releases, three Hindi films were competing at the box-office on 25 August — Babumoshai Bandookbaaz, Qaidi Band, and A Gentleman.

Here’s a quick look at the four releases from last weekend and their box office report so far:

Vivegam

Vivegam has gone on to break the record held by Rajinikanth’s Kabali for being the highest opening day collection at the Chennai box-office. According to The New Indian Express, the film has collected Rs 1.2 crore on the first day while Kabali made Rs 1.12 crore and Vijay’s Theri made Rs 1.05 crore. On the second day, the film became the fastest to reach Rs 2.5 crore in Chennai with the two-day collection standing at Rs 2.7 crore.

Read: Silverscreen’s Vivegam‘s review

While the film continues to get mixed reviews, especially with the film fraternity now rallying against negative reviews of the film, mostly targeting Tamil Talkies, the film is still maintaining quite a run at the box-office.

Trade analyst Ramesh Bala notes that the the film has crossed the Rs 100 crore mark, grossing Rs 69 crore in India and Rs 36.50 crore worldwide. The film has collected Rs 48.50 crore in Tamil Nadu within its first four days.

In Chennai alone, the film has made has Rs  5.75 crore during its first weekend, and is expected to continue reigning at the box-office.

Babumoshai Bandookbaaz

The Nawazuddin Siddiqui film is a small-budgeted film, especially when the actor himself spoke of how the film would still struggle to make a mark while a big film will find it easy at the box-office. The reviews, too, have been mixed, with most praising his performance but not too fond of the story in itself. 

Read: Silverscreen’s Babumoshai Bandookbaaz review

Directed by Kushan Nandy, the film has made a lukewarm impact at the box-office. According to Bollywood trade analyst Taran Adarsh, the film has made Rs 7.53 crores in India during the weekend. The film was produced on a budget of Rs 3 crore and marketed in under Rs 2 crore, thus breaking even with its collection so far.

Qaidi Band

Directed by Habib Faisal and starring only newcomers, Qaidi Band and its makers had a lot of hope in this film, considering Yash Raj Films bankrolls it. With a terrific female lead and a story that isn’t on the line of jingoism despite the backdrop being set on India’s Independence Day, the film falters at the box-office.

Read: Silverscreen’s Qaidi Band review

Recommended

According to KoiMoi, the film has collected a mere Rs 50 lakhs so far, not even surpassing Rs 1 crore in three days. The film opened to a poor show of making just Rs 25 lakhs on its first day, and managed to climb to Rs 50 lakhs. But it is also reported that the film’s performance was affected because of the mounting tension up in Punjab and Haryana, resulting in a 20 per cent decline.

A Gentleman

With a star cast like Sidharth Malhotra and Jacqueline Fernandez, and a film that was promoted as a glossy yet fun film, A Gentleman directed by the duo DK and Raj, couldn’t quite make a mark at the box-office. 

Read: Silverscreen’s A Gentleman review

According to Taran Adarsh, the film was a “disappointment”, minting only Rs 13.13 crores in India.

According to KoiMoi, the film managed to make only Rs 4.04 crore on its first day, especially since it was made on a budget of Rs 50 crores. 

Sanjana Chakraborty is a Alum at Silverscreen India, and can be reached on Twitter at sanjana_c28 or by email at former@silverscreen.in