All predictions and calculations failed for Himmatwala as the film under-performed at the box office over its opening weekend. Pre-release buzz, immense hype, presence of successful names, solo release and large number of prints couldn’t really help the film in gaining the kind of numbers that were expected to be thrown in.
While it was almost a given that 40 crores in its first three days were pretty much on the cards and an even higher number was expected, considering the credentials involved, the film belied everything, what with only around 31 crores coming in.
To be fair to the film, the opening day was decent, which means quite a few aforementioned factors did help the film fetch good numbers. Of course more was expected but still, given the fact that this is a mass dominated film with a large number of footfalls experienced at single screen theatres, it was all respectable. However, when the film started sliding on Saturday, it was time for alarm bells to ring.
While pre-release expectations for the film were that Bollywood would enjoy yet another 100 crore biggie this year (after Race 2), it won’t be the case after all. In fact currently all eyes are on how far would Himmatwala go in order to be a coverage affair.
Joginder Tuteja tweets @tutejajoginder