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Box Office: 2024 starts on a positive note with success of Fighter and Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya
While Fighter is set to finish with lifetime collections of Rs 200 crore in India, Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya will close with domestic box office number around the Rs 80 crore mark. Details
Following the historic run of feature films at the box office in 2023, there were conversations across the board on how 2024 might be a relatively dry year with limited releases through the 12-month period. One could count event films at their fingertips, leading to added pressure on them to deliver at par with the humongous expectations. The first event release of 2024 was the Republic Day outing, the Siddharth Anand-directed Fighter starring Hrithik Roshan, Deepika Padukone, and Anil Kapoor in the lead.
Fighter ready to hit Rs 200 crore at the box office in India
Fighter opened on Thursday, January 25 to phenomenal reviews, however, the opening was just about average due to the sub-par marketing campaign and asset launches. The film made up for the lost ground with a good trend from Friday to Sunday, settling at a 4-day figure of Rs 114 crore. Then came the crucial Monday, where the film dropped bigger than expected with collections of about Rs 7.25 crore. The rates going down by 35 percent from the weekend made the Monday figure look even more steeper than what it was supposed to. The Monday biz pushed a lot of people to write fake obituaries for Fighter, comparing it to some of the most legendary disasters of Hindi Cinema. The studio did little to combat the negativity and even stopped giving box office numbers, conceding defeat.
But Fighter fought like a true fighter and the tides changed post the drop on Monday, as Fighter managed to stay steady at lower levels for the weeks to follow. What was predicted to be a Rs 160 crore finish with the drop on Monday, is now set to emerge as a successful venture with a finish around the Rs 205 crore mark in India as the total till date stands at Rs 197 crore. Of course, the film did not live up to the humongous pre-release expectations as the appreciation was skewed towards the urban markets, but it did well enough to reach a respectable total in the long run.
It's not a big hit, but the film has managed to find a place for itself not just on the box office charts which spell success (Average & Above) but also in the hearts of cinema-going audiences in urban areas. Better music, better marketing and a little more of hand-to-hand combats would have definitely taken the film towards the clean hit mark with bigger box office numbers. Globally, Fighter is headed towards a Rs 340 crore finish, a number which would look a lot bigger by the end of 2024.
Teri Baaton Mein Aise Uljha Jiya headed for a Rs 80 crore finish in India
The second release of the year is the Shahid Kapoor and Kriti Sanon-led Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Ulja Jiya, which opened on Valentine's Day eve. The Dinesh Vijan production met with a negative response from majority of the critics (including yours truly) but the audience reception is a lot better than what it initially looked like. The film opened at Rs 6.50 crore and is now headed towards a finish around the Rs 80 crore mark, which spells success for the robotic-romantic comedy.
While Fighter faced negativity from a section of trade, TBMAUJ fell prey to negativity on the reviews front from all quarters. But as they say, the audience is the king and will watch a film that they wish to, irrespective of the general perception. The film fought against the odds to win itself the successful tag, recording a good trend on weekdays, followed by an impressive spike over the second weekend. The business was boosted by Buy One Get One Free offer, but even if we discount that, there is a trend that spells appreciation for the film from a section of the audience. Much like Fighter, this one isn’t a hit film for now, but has done well enough to reach a respectable number and earned the success tag. The film has done well in the overseas market too, targeting a finish of USD 5 Million, and is expected to close with a global total of Rs 130 crore.
2024 is the year when feature films might not hit the Rs 500 crore mark, but it could be a chance for the film fraternity to get back to reality and celebrate those mid-range successes and clean hits, getting over the hangover of all those all-time blockbusters that set new benchmarks for box office in 2023. These mid-range successes for feature films are what keep the industry running and Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya is an important feature film on that front as it opens the doors for producers to make rom-coms at controlled budgets.
Post pandemic world has cleared ample of things and the latest learning in 2024 is to not write off a film till it not over as feature films with skewed appreciation are showing a longer-than-usual trend in the urban markets. Both Fighter and TBMAUJ managed to survive and trend after a not-so-promising opening day. All eyes now on Article 370, Crakk, Shaitaan, Yodha, The Crew, Bade Miyan Chote Miyan and Maidaan to surprise at the ticket window. Stay tuned to Pinkvilla for more updates.
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