Box office: Pathaan set to surpass Baahubali: The Conclusion, Selfiee bombs on Day 1

Akshay Kumar in 'Selfiee'. (Screen shot/Dharma Productions)

It was a slow start for Selfiee at the box office, with only Rs 2.50 crore* coming in on opening day in theatres (February 24, 2023). A remake of the 2019 Malayalam film Driving Licence, director Raj Mehta's film was reportedly made on a budget of Rs 150 crore.

This is doubly disappointing, given that there was hardly any competition for the Akshay Kumar and Emraan Hashmi starrer, what with Pathaan in its fourth week already and last week’s releases Shehzada and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania turning out to be one-week shows. Moreover, the promotion and marketing of the film was quite aggressive right from the time of its announcement to its eventual release.

What the film is looking for now is a turnaround in fortunes and for that, the collections would need to increase manifold today and tomorrow. However, for that to happen the word of mouth needs to be super strong, and also very quick. Since not many people have watched the film on the first day, it would be a task indeed for the film to perform.

Last week’s twin releases Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and Shehzada haven’t done well in theatres. The former closed its first week at Rs 32 crore* and while latter could gather only Rs 27 crore*. The Hollywood film had at least got a start for itself, but it couldn’t capitalise on that and eventually started falling big during the weekdays. On the other hand, Shehzada did try to get some momentum in the first weekend and while that didn’t quite come in, collections dropped further over the weekdays. Both the films just have a few shows in the second week and would stay in circulation for one more week before Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar arrives on Holi.

Meanwhile, preparations are already being made to celebrate the all-time blockbuster success of Pathaan as it gets set to pip Baahubali: The Conclusion as the biggest Hindi earner of all time in theatres. The SS Rajamouli directed epic entertainer had collected Rs 511 crore in the Hindi version and now the Shah Rukh Khan starrer has reached Rs 503.10 crore*. As for the overall collections, including south dubbed versions, Pathaan has Rs 521.16 crore* now. Given the fact that the film has two open weeks ahead of it with little competition in sight, the Shah Rukh Khan starrer can stake a claim at a bigger number as well.

#Pathaan celebrations continue, with all your love!
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— Yash Raj Films (@yrf) February 24, 2023

*Estimates. Final numbers awaited

Note: All collections as per production and distribution sources