Last week in this very column it was predicted that the opening day of Drishyam would be in the range of 8-10 crore. The prediction came true to the T as Friday collections read 8 crore. In fact one adds the Paid Preview collections, the numbers came to 8.5 crore. Of course these were the lowest numbers for Ajay Devgn since (delayed) Tezz as each of his films in the recent past had collected in the double digit range on the opening day with Son of Sardaar being the lowest at 10.5 crore (courtesy, its clash with Jab Tak Hai Jaan).

However, 8 crore on Day One wasn’t bad as it set the stage for the word of mouth to set in. This is exactly what happened as the film showed escalation over the weekend. As a result, around 29 crore* came over the weekend, which is decent, if not very good. The film needs to be very stable right through the weekdays as well to net a respectable lifetime total. This means fall on the weekdays needs to be minimal when compared to the opening day.

Drishyam, Bajrangi Bhaijaan and Bahubali movie posters
Drishyam, Bajrangi Bhaijaan and Bahubali movie posters

The film has seen good to excellent reviews all over while the word of mouth ranges from being decent to very good. This should further help the Ajay Devgn starrer keep the audiences coming in theaters.

Meanwhile, Bajrangi Bhaijaan had yet another good weekend and brought in further moolah. With 19.98 crore more added to its total, the film now stands at 292.23 crore. This means that 300 crore mark would be reached by the end of week or at maximum in the fourth weekend. All Time Blockbuster.

Bahubali too has continued its record breaking journey, and is now in the 100 crore club. This is the first Indian dubbed film to achieve this feat. The film continued to find audience and would be in the running till the release of Brothers on 14th August. Blockbuster.

* Final numbers awaited

Joginder Tuteja tweets @tutejajoginder

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