‘Housefull 4’ enjoys gains from extended weekend, gets post-Diwali Monday boost

Housefull 4 poster (Image: Twitter/@akshaykumar)

Housefull 4 pretty much came on its own on October 28 when the family audience came into the theatres in hordes to watch the antics of Akshay Kumar, Riteish Deshmukh and Co.

The film started on expected lines as Friday collections turned out to be Rs 19.09 crore. Given the fact that it was 'dhanteras' that day, families were busy with festivities. Hence, anything around Rs 20 crore would have been a good number for the film.

However, this is where the unthinkable happened as the film faced huge backlash because of trolling on social media. Though at that point it was difficult to ascertain if it was genuine or fake audience coming into play, all eyes were on how Saturday and Sunday would be.

For the film to gain maximum leverage from the post-Diwali holiday on Monday, it was prudent that Housefull 4 stayed afloat in the remainder of the weekend.

Thankfully, this is what happened -- as Saturday was stable at Rs 18.8 crore and Sunday too had by and large good numbers (Rs 15.3 crore) -- considering it was Diwali.

As a result, the weekend numbers stood at Rs 53.2 crore. Still, it had to be seen how Monday would turn out to be as it would pave the way for the weekdays and also define the overall lifetime prospects of the film.

With Rs 34.5 crore coming in on Monday, the writing was clear on the wall. Neutral audiences were not really impacted by what was being said on social media and were more than happy to step in for the fourth instalment of the comedy franchise.

Collections were good all over the country, be it the A, B or C centers, and in multiplexes as well as single screens. Even though there were three more options available for the audiences in the form of Saand Ki Aankh, Made In China and holdover release War, it was Housefull 4 that ruled strong.

Currently, the film stands at Rs 87.7 crore and the Sajid Nadiadwala and Fox Star Studios production will come close to the Rs 100 crore mark by October 29 night.

After that it would be the film's journey towards the Rs 150 crore milestone that would be looked at with keen interest as that would be its eventual verdict.

(Joginder Tuteja is a trade expert and film critic. Views are personal)