Box office collections: Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui, Pushpa, and Spider-Man: No Way Home

Ayushmann Khurrana and Vaani Kapoor in 'Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui'. The film made over Rs 14.5 crore in the opening weekend. (Image: screen grab)

Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui is the latest theatrical release of the week, and while it was expected to open in the Rs4-5 crore range, the footfalls were a little lower on Friday with Rs3.75 crore coming in. Thankfully, it picked up some pace as a result of which the overall first weekend collections turned out to be Rs14.53 crore. However, for a film with a top star like Ayushmann Khurrana in the lead and a known face like Vaani Kapoor, the numbers should have been closer to the Rs20 crore mark.

Though Ayushmann Khurrana’s films often touch upon taboo topics, the theme of Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui pushes the envelope a little farther than most, with Vaani Kapoor playing a trans woman; and since this was disclosed in the promo itself, some family audiences may have ruled it out.

The movie thus remained relevant primarily for the youth. And with the current post-pandemic situation where movie-watching in theatres is at a low, the collections were hit all the more.

Nonetheless, the positive here is that among the class audiences (for which the film has been made) there is appreciation - which translated into the uptick later in the opening weekend. That said, this is a short week with Spider-Man: No Way Home arriving in theatres on Thursday and then Pushpa hitting the screens on Friday.

Talking about Spider-Man: No Way Home, the film should take an excellent start at the box office. In the pre-pandemic times, this would have meant an opening day of at least Rs40 crore. However, these are different times and hence Rs25-30 crore is on the cards - and that is excellent as well. The film is releasing on Thursday and theatres would be happy to welcome the film since this would mean an extended four-day weekend that should keep the exhibition sector happy.

As for Pushpa, it is arriving in Hindi as well other than the south languages. With Allu Arjun in the lead, one would have expected far more intense marketing and promotion of the film, especially since it was announced as a pan-India film. However, for now, it is best coming across as a South film which has been dubbed in Hindi and is seeing a release in certain Hindi speaking pockets of the country.

Had this been released even like Saaho, leave aside Baahubali franchise, then the situation would have been entirely different. However, the trailer suggests an out and out South-style film and that means the Hindi version could well get Rs1-2 crore opening day and that’s about it. In the south, though, it can well expect a flying start with star-studded cast of Allu Arjun, Fahadh Faasil, Rashmika Mandanna, Dhanunjay, Rao Ramesh, Suneel, Anasuya Bharadwaj and Ajay Ghosh.

With Spider-Man: No Way Home and Pushpa playing together on Friday, the combined all-India collections would turn out to be the biggest of the year and comfortably go past the opening collections of Annaatthe, Master, Vakeel Saab and Sooryavanshi.