It has been a while since a film opened well at the Box Office. The last time a film took a double digit opening was almost a month ago when Ae Dil Hai Mushkil [13.3 crore] and Shivaay [10.24 crore] clashed on Diwali. Ever since then, the wait continues to have good footfalls on the opening Friday itself. A good reason for that is the sheer content on display, followed by the demonetization drive that further impacted collections at the Box Office. All of this is (hopefully) expected to change this weekend when Dear Zindagi hit the screens.
The film looks like a classy affair in the offering and has an elitist feel to it. It is aiming at major multiplexes in the urban centers and hence cities like Mumbai, Delhi NCR, Bangalore and Kolkata are expected to bring in the best numbers. Whatever numbers that come from the rest of the country would be an added bonus, though if this Gauri Shinde film ends up fetching very good word of mouth too in the same way that English Vinglish had done (Opening day – 2.5 crore, Lifetime – 40 crore), sky would be the limit. For now, it would be fair to assume that the opening day collections would be in the range of 8-10 crore.
Box Office Predictions – Dear Zindagi, Saansein
As for the second release of the week, Saansein – The Last Breath, the film is targeting the kind of audience which is entirely different from the one that Dear Zindagi is aiming for. The Rajniesh Duggall – Sonarika Bhadoria film is a single screen friendly affair and hence would be aiming to reach out to those who stepped in for the likes of 1920 London. The Sharman Joshi – Meerra Chopra starrer had collected 2.5 crore on the opening day and if the numbers come anywhere close to this for Saansein on Friday, it would be reason to celebrate for the makers.
