Box office: Tiger 3 aiming for Rs 275 crore lifetime, Day 1 collections for Farrey and Starfish underwhelming

Salman Khan's niece Alizeh as Niyati and Sahil Mehta as Akshay in Farrey, a young-adult story about class difference and cheating in exams. (Screen grab)

It was a slow Friday for Bollywood, as combined business from all Hindi films running in theatres was less than Rs 5 crore. That means average occupancy was around 10 percent, which is quite low given that business had really picked up in the summer and then sustained post that. However, with Tiger 3 not meeting expectations and no other major films arriving between the Salman Khan starrer - which released on November 12 - and upcoming Friday releases Animal and Sam Bahadur, it’s a lull period.

This Fridays releases include Farrey and Starfish. Produced by Salman Khan Films, Farrey is about cheating in examinations and the ingenious ways students adopt to cheat. It has got all around positive reviews, but it would need word of mouth to pick up. The start is in the vicinity of Rs 50 lakh, and that’s low even for a non-star cast affair.

Starfish, starring Milind Soman, Khushalii Kumar, Ehan Bhat and Tusharr Khanna, is a thriller of a different kind. Right from the title to the trailer, the subject and the overall treatment, it has a non-Bollywoodish feel to it, which means it caters to select segment of audiences. The collections are less than Rs 25 lakh on the first day and that’s on the expected lines. The film has a week to find some numbers in theatres and then should reach out to wider audiences on OTT.

Tiger 3 is now collecting less than Rs 5 crore on a daily basis and has seen a low start in the third week, despite no competition around. The film could have made the most of the open period but due to audiences not really taking to the content and Salman Khan’s star power already doing what it could have in the first few days, the decline is rather rapid. This was seen from Rs 3.50 crore* that it collected on Friday. The Maneesh Sharma-directed film currently stands at Rs 257.50 crore, and while it will likely cross Rs 275 crore, it won’t cover much distance post that.

All eyes are now on Animal which releases on the coming Friday. The Ranbir Kapoor starrer is carrying excellent hype and has peaked at just the right time. Moreover, director Sandeep Reddy Vanga has become a brand after Kabir Singh. Not to forget, Bobby Deol's role has generated much curiosity around him with this film. The film is expected to take a start of around Rs 40 crore at the box office, and if its chances of an even bigger number are curtailed, it would be because of its "A" certification and duration of over 3 hours.

Note: All collections as per production and distribution sources