Both Prabhas and Prashanth Neel are big names in the Hindi market and when this collaboration was announced, mass movie lovers were very much excited. Sadly, due to Neel’s commitment to KGF Chapter 2, the COVID-19 pandemic, and some other reasons, the project saw a major delay. However, this didn’t affect the buzz for the film among the target audience.
In fact, without any promotional events, Salaar got free publicity due to talks of a clash with Shah Rukh Khan’s Dunki. As Hombale Films had earlier clashed with SRK’s Zero, the reports of old rivalry erupted, and such discussions helped the Prabhas starrer to stay in the headlines. It also helped in creating awareness regarding its release date.
Out of all the promotional material that was churned out, the second trailer was the most successful and pushed the excitement level among the masses.
So overall, Salaar had a good pre-release buzz for its Hindi version, and it looked a like a winner at the box office.
The advance booking for opening day was recorded above 5 crores gross, clearly hinting at a good start for the Hindi version. As per the trade reports flowing in, the morning and afternoon occupancy has been good across the country, with mass centers dominating through over-the-counter ticket sales. The day 1 collection is aiming to go above 15 crores, which is a promising start considering the competition in the form of Dunki.
Speaking about the positives, the Hindi version has been receiving favorable word-of-mouth and is said to be a grand comeback of Prabhas. If this positivity continues till the last show of the night, the film will storm the ticket windows from tomorrow onwards. Another thing is that the issues of screen/show distribution are solved, and a good showcasing has been given to this biggie. So, a solid collection is expected during the extended opening weekend, lasting till Monday.
Shah Rukh Khan’s Dunki is more of an urban-centric film, and for Salaar, the bigger audience lies in the mass belts. So, there’s no such deadly battle between the both. Also, there are possibilities that the film might manage to secure more screens during weekdays as all the ugly tussle was for the opening weekend. If that happens, it has no major competition until Hrithik Roshan’s Fighter arrives on 25th January.
Coming to negatives, Salaar being the mass action entertainer is the biggest problem. 2023 has seen several such big-screen entertainers attracting footfalls, with the latest example being Animal. There might come a phase where the market for such mass films gets saturated. So, it’ll be interesting to see to what extent the Hindi audience welcomes this Prabhas’ action thriller.
Just like Animal, this one too is an ‘A’ rated, so that might become a tool of marketing in the coming days. Animal benefitted a lot due to it. Let’s see how it turns out in the case of the Prashanth Neel directorial.
Salaar: Part 1 – Ceasefire Box Office Review (Hindi): Final Verdict
On the whole, Salaar: Part 1 – Ceasefire (Hindi) is a big success in the making. For Prabhas, this film is a complete game-changer after the debacle of Radhe Shyam and Adipurush. It is expected to earn 170-185 crores at the Indian box office, thus becoming Prabhas’ second-highest net grosser in Hindi by surpassing Saaho (149 crores).
Stay tuned to Koimoi for more such box office reviews!
