Saif Ali Khan’s ‘Jawaani Jaaneman’ manages decent opening, ‘Street Dancer 3’ and ‘Panga’ drop

Jawaani Jaaneman film poster (Image: Twitter/@AlayaF___)

With different genres of films playing in theatres right now, there are many choices for the audience. While on one end Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior is still registering very good occupancy, on the other Jawaani Jaaneman has also managed to find footfalls at target properties.

As for Street Dancer 3D, it has surprisingly underperformed. Same is the case with Panga which faced too much of competition to handle.

Let us talk about Jawaani Jaaneman first. The film’s promo had seen a good response which was also one of the best for a Saif Ali Khan solo affair. After that too, promotion and marketing had gone fine which means a first day number of Rs 3-4 crore was on the cards.

This is what happened as Rs 3.2 crore came in — which is one of the better starts that the actor has enjoyed in the last three-four years. His Rangoon had managed better with the first day collections going past the Rs 6 crore-mark. However, that film also had Shahid Kapoor as another leading actor. Moreover, the film’s cost was quite high as well.

Jawaani Jaaneman has been made at a controlled budget, which means it has a chance to pull through if momentum is felt over the weekend. While a weekend in the vicinity of Rs 15 crore would be optimal, at bare minimum, the film’s collections would go past the Rs 13 crore-mark before the weekdays begin.

As for Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior, its fourth Friday was just marginally lesser than the first Friday of Jawaani Jaaneman, with Rs 2.7 crore more coming in. The film has been enjoying tremendous success at the box office and its total so far stands at Rs 240.6 crore. The Ajay Devgn-starrer is marching towards the RS 275 crore milestone and that would be at least Rs 100 crore more than what most would have expected as the war drama’s lifetime total. The film is a major blockbuster.

On the other hand, Street Dancer 3D would be seen as an underperformer, as far as the theatrical business is concerned. While the first week was anyways comparatively lower than expectations, with only Rs 56.7 crore coming in, the second Friday saw further dip in footfalls. The film barely managed to go past the Rs 2 crore-mark. Currently, the collections stand at Rs 58.7 crore. Varun Dhawan and Shraddha Kapoor would see a lifetime collections of around Rs 70-75 crore for their dance film, but that is about it.

Kangana Ranaut’s Panga has seen low collections in theatres. The first week's collection stood at Rs 21.3 crore — which ideally should have been the first weekend numbers for the film. There was appreciation from the critics but somehow footfalls were not really there, except for some premium properties. Currently, it is facing too much competition around it, as a result of which the second Friday went below the Rs 1 crore-mark. While it would manage to somehow get through the second week, soon, the film would soon be making its digital premiere.

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