Though there were a number of films that released on November 29, the one which saw the biggest release (at 2,541 screens across the country) was Commando 3.
With this sort of release, a good capacity was created and hence a number in the range of Rs 8-10 crore would have been more optimal. However, given that fact that the last two Commando flicks did not have a great start either, the third in the series did fairly to collect Rs 4.74 crore on the first day.
The Vidyut Jammwal-starrer should grow from here and if a Rs 20 crore weekend comes calling, it would be a decent result for the Aditya Dutt-directed film. This is possible as the film has been received fairly by critics and the audience. Though word of mouth for the film is not spectacular, it is not bad either. Which means, the film has the stage set for itself to show some growth.
This did not really turn out to be the case though for Pagalpanti which neither opened well, nor grew over the weekend and then the weekdays were totally off track. As a result, the film could not even touch the Rs 30 crore mark after its first week. The Anees Bazmee-directed film has managed mere Rs 29 crore and the manner in which it is going currently, it would wrap up under the Rs 35 crore mark. The film is a major flop, despite the fact that it was not as bad as it was made out to be.
Meanwhile, Marjaavaan has managed to sail through and emerge as a decent success. The Sidharth Malhotra and Riteish Deshmukh starrer managed Rs 46.4 crore after two weeks. Though it slowed down considerably in the second week (Rs 8.5 crore) after a reasonable first week (Rs 37.8 crore), the job was fortunately done for it, already.
Director Milap Zaveri and producers Emmay Entertainment have now delivered their second success together in a row after Satyameva Jayate and though Marjaavaan has done half the numbers of the John Abraham starrer, it is expected that big bucks would come all over again when Satyameva Jayate 2 arrives on Gandhi Jayanti in 2020.
As for Bala, it did not really need any kind of national holiday to keep its march on in theatres. The film has managed to collect Rs 109.8 crore already and is still finding favour among the audience, at least in multiplexes. Producer Dinesh Vijan has seen his second big success of 2019 after Luka Chuppi while Ayushmann Khurranna has scored his second straight century after Dream Girl.
The film should continue to run for some more time and that would ensure that the total of Rs 115 crore would be surpassed in a jiffy. After that, it would be all about how the newer releases fare and that would be the deciding factor for the eventual lifetime score of Bala between Rs 115 to Rs 120 crore mark.
(Joginder Tuteja is a trade expert and film critic. Views are personal)
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