These are turning out to be very different times at the box office. While on one side Bollywood has seen only four films doing well (The Kashmir Files and Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 are blockbusters, Gangubai Kathiawadi is a hit and JugJugg Jeeyo has at least seen sustained footfalls), South imports KGF: Chapter 2 and RRR have done blockbuster business in Hindi. However, other Hindi releases, around 25 of them, have by and large struggled and done significantly less business they might have had they released pre-pandemic.
In these times, suddenly Hollywood has managed to gather pace. This was first seen with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, then Jurassic World: Dominion and now Thor: Love and Thunder. While Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness ended up scoring a comfortable century, Jurassic World: Dominion crossed Rs 70 crore and now Thor: Love and Thunder too seems to be heading in the same direction.
The Marvel film opened quite well on Thursday (July 7, 2022) at Rs 18.6 crore, and after two days at the box office, has crossed the Rs 30 crore mark. (That's almost double the lifetime score of so many Hindi films featuring some of the biggest stars that have released in 2022.) The hope is that the film will hit a half century in its four-day opening weekend from Thursday through Sunday; July 7-10. Yes, collections have indeed fallen from Thursday to Friday, but that's from a very high level.
Meanwhile, Bollywood releases have been bringing limited footfalls and in pockets. At the single screens, it's Vidyut Jammwal's Khuda Hafiz: Chapter 2 that has arrived this Friday. One expected a bigger opening for the film considering the action star has been enjoying loyal audience amongst the youth. However, it's this very youth that perhaps ended up heading for Thor: Love and Thunder due to which the footfalls were restricted. On its opening day, the film has collected Rs 1.40 crore.*
It was the same scenario last week, when Rashtra Kavach Om released in theatres. It mainly found audience in select single screens of the interiors, and this is where it collected around Rs 6.5 crores in its first week. Aditya Roy Kapur had shown a glimpse of his action persona in his last theatrical release Malang, and with this Ahmed Khan production, he went full throttle. In theatres, the film has done restricted business and though it is still playing at a few screens in the second week, it would hope to explore a larger audience on OTT.
Rest assured, R. Madhavan's Rocketry will find audiences on the digital medium when it arrives, since the appreciation for the film has been huge. In its first week, the film did a business of around Rs 8 crore for its Hindi version, which is of course sub-optimal given the kind of expectations one carried from it, or even the actor-producer-director would have pinned on it. Four years in the making, this one was received very well by the critics and even that segment of multiplex audiences who watched it. It's in the reckoning during the second week too.
As for JugJugg Jeeyo, it has moved into the third week with a total of Rs 74.63 crore after 15 days. The film has been hanging in there despite the flurry of new releases across all languages, and the good part is that amongst the family audiences, this one is a clean bet in the third week too. The Karan Johar production would have undoubtedly been a 100 Crore Club entrant pre-pandemic, but for now would have to contend with a total in the vicinity of Rs 85 crore. With urban audiences in particular liking the film, it should continue to do well at the multiplexes.
Note: All collections as per production and distribution sources
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