Sanjay Leela Bhansali is all set to return to the theaters as a director after four years with Gangubai Kathiawadi. Directed by Alia Bhatt, the film marks the director’s first release after Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone and Shahid Kapoor’s Padmaavat. The film also marks Bhansali’s first collaboration with Alia. While the expectations from the film are high, Gangubai Kathiawadi is also facing controversies, with some cases filed against the film’s release.
Despite all these factors, trade experts believe that Gangubai Kathiawadi will have a good opening at the box office. Producer and film business expert Girish Johar has predicted an opening of Rs 5 crore and expects the numbers to go up if the initial reviews are good. “I am expecting a good opening of over Rs 5 crore. If word of mouth is good then it can go up to Rs 6-7 crore. I hope word of mouth will be very strong because Sanjay Leela Bhansali is a brilliant director, one of the top directors in the country, and Alia is also one of the finest actors we have at the moment. She is a huge star. So based on word of mouth, we could have a very good opening weekend at the box office,” he told News18.
Trade analyst Atul Mohan shares the same opinion as Girish Johar. He has also predicted an opening of Rs 5 to 7 crores. “Badhaai Do was the last theatrical release but it did not do well and the exhibitors are short of material. I think Gangubai Kathiawadi should get one of the biggest releases after the pandemic. It is releasing in over 3000 screens, so they are targeting (a big release) and they will achieve that as well. All the exhibitors want to show Gangubai Kathiawadi. The overall packaging looks good,” he said.
Theaters are operating at 100 per cent occupancy, except in a few centres, including in Maharashtra, which will work in favor of the film. Atul said, “Maharashtra is still the largest market and though it is operating at 50 per cent occupancy, the film may increase the number of screens and shows to meet the 50 per cent shortfall.”
Apart from Gangubai Kathiawadi, moviegoers from Tamil cinema will be treated to Ajith Kumar’s Valimai and Pawan Kalyan’s Bheemala Nayak from Telugu industry. Ashish Saxena, COO, Cinemas, BookMyShow says that good advance bookings have been made and an entertaining weekend awaits.
It is a stellar weekend in films with the much-awaited Sanjay Leela Bhansali directorial and Alia Bhatt directorial Gangubai Kathiawadi, Pawan Kalyan’s Bhimla Nayak and Ajith Kumar starrer Valimai, which has delivered a rock-solid show across the country. A strong audience in advance sales. Major metros like Mumbai, Delhi NCR, Hyderabad, Chennai, Bhubaneshwar, Bengaluru, Patna, Pune and Coimbatore are at the forefront of the race with fans thronging to see these mega entertainers getting their seats this weekend. We are confident that the power-packed release calendar for this weekend will continue to drive high growth, contributing to the entertainment industry’s steady recovery,” he said.
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