Box office: Rs 5 crore comes in for first major Friday of 2024 on the back of HanuMan, Merry Christmas

Katrina Kaif and Vijay Sethupathi in director Sriram Raghavan's thriller Merry Christmas, which released in theatres on January 12, 2024. (Photo via X)

The first major Friday of 2024 has brought in Rs 5 crore at the box office. Yes, technically January 5 was the first Friday. But then no notable Bollywood release arrived on that day, since Dunki and Salaar had released over Christmas and no mainstream filmmaker opted to release their film just 14-15 days later. However, with space clearing out quite well (or rather too fast) for new releases, Bollywood release Merry Christmas and south dubbed film HanuMan had the stage set for them.

Of course, neither was expected to open huge and while Merry Christmas was eyeing a Rs 2 crore opening day, HanuMan (Hindi) seemed like it was heading for a Rs 1 crore start. In that sense, Merry Christmas has met expectations with a start of Rs 2.30 crore, whereas HanuMan has exceeded expectations with Rs 2.15 crore coming in for just the Hindi version.

Both films depended entirely on word of mouth coming into play, and while the Katrina Kaif and Vijay Sethupathi thriller is targeting multiplexes, Teja Sajja’s action drama is aiming for the masses. That’s the kind of target audience that has been set for the two films and this is where they are performing the best as well.

Merry Christmas is director Sriram Raghavan's first film in half-a-decade; Andhadhun came out in 2018. The Ayushmann Khurrana-led suspense thriller had started slow and then grown from strength to strength and eventually crossed the Rs 70 crore mark. Now the makers of Merry Christmas would be expecting a similar feat as well for their atmospheric film that wants audiences to apply their brains while watching it as this one isn’t a usual leisure watch.

On the other hand, Prasanth Verma-directed HanuMan is winning a lot of appreciation for its visual cinematic appeal and especially the manner in which Lord Hanuman has been presented on screen. There is a lot of respect and reverence in the portrayal of the God and moreover the entertainment quotient is high as well, which should eventually allow mass as well as class audiences watching it.

Meanwhile, Dunki crossed the Rs 50 lakh mark on its fourth Friday. The Shah Rukh Khan starrer has reached Rs 225 crore and is now expected to close under the Rs 235 crore mark. It would have been nicer had the Rs 250 crore milestone been reached. Nevertheless, it’s time now to look forward to 2024 and see what Rajkumar Hirani picks up for his next directorial venture.

Note: All collections as per production and distribution sources