Cinephiles have a wide selection of films to choose from this weekend, including Gadar 2, OMG 2, Jailer, and Bhola Shankar. Since each movie has its own audience, it is anticipated that they will all enjoy a respectable run and a successful weekend at the theatre. There is little question that Rajinikanth’s Jailer will set up a frenzy at the box office in the South, but in Hindi-speaking regions, Sunny Deol’s masala blockbuster Gadar 2 is predicted to capture the top spot.
Gadar 2 has had an unprecedented level of advance booking, indicating that North American moviegoers are already certain about their preferences. On day one, the movie has already sold more than 1.3 lakh tickets; by Thursday’s end, it’s anticipated that this figure will reach 2 lakh. 3,00,000 seats for the movie have already been sold, according to ticket aggregator BookMyShow, with Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Jaipur, Patna, Pune, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, and Surat leading the way.
Trade analyst in conversation with Indian Express averred that, “The advance booking is phenomenal and the first day should be over Rs 35 crore. The mass circuits are in overdrive. In the single screens, there will be capacity issues because they have only four shows in a day, unlike multiplexes where you can hold 18-20 shows. But single screens also have an advantage because they have larger auditoriums with a sitting capacity of 1000-1200. So, that compensates. This is one film after Pathaan that is going to rule the heartland.”
Gadar 2 would likely do well in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, according to film director and industry expert Girish Johar, who highlighted that “Craze is phenomenal in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities.” He estimated that the movie’s opening day revenue will be approximately Rs 25 crore, with the potential for growth based on word-of-mouth. He also revealed that the movie had obtained over 4,000 screens.
He stated that, “Gadar is not an ordinary film. It is an emotion. Emotions and drama can never go out of fashion. This film has played on satellite channels over the years and has tremendous recall value. When they re-released the film in the cinemas recently, the reaction was tremendous. So, even today’s generation is aware that when Sunny Deol lifts a hand pump, it is believable. Also, when he says, ‘Hindustan zindabad tha, zindabad hai, zindabad rahega’, the dialogue stays with you. So, I am expecting its fabulous run in the theatres.”
As Girish Johar noted, the producers of Akshay Kumar’s Oh My God 2 (OMG 2) are downplaying the movie. “They are not trying to overcommit. They are not going overboard as they know what the content is, and they know they cannot target the family audience because they have got an ‘A’ certificate. They are trying to walk the tightrope. Still, the awareness levels are quite positive for the film as well.”
According to Johar, OMG 2 would make between Rs 8 and Rs 10 crore at the box office after selling 45,000 seats on BookMyShow.
Girish Johar stated, “Rocky Aur Rani has been a little displaced because of its release strategy. First, they came with Oppenheimer, so they were a little cornered. Now, they should ensure that they are sufficiently placed in the third week because you never know, if Gadar 2 and OMG 2 don’t work, then the holiday weekend can be encashed by Rocky Aur Rani. But for that, they have to be present over there.”
Both Chiranjeevi’s Bhola Shankar and Rajinikanth’s Jailer have a devoted following in South India.
“In Tamil Nadu and the Tamil-speaking belt across the country, Jailer is looking like an absolute storm. The kind of advance bookings that you see around the film is unprecedented. It is possibly on its way of becoming one of the highest-opening Tamil films of all time. A huge Huge buzz there,” Akshaye Rathi said.
Jailer tickets have already sold 900,000 on BookMyShow, with southern states dominating the sales figures.
Rathi continued, “All of this put together is such a comprehensive recipe that there is some content for every kind of audience in the cinemas simultaneously and that is an ideal case scenario.”
“It should happen more often. This notion of no other film releasing with you simultaneously is very wrong because we rarely have films that can release in every single cinema there is in the country. So, to satiate the number of screens we have in the country, we need simultaneous releases happening all over the country, week in and week out round the year,” he concluded.
