Box office: Panipat off to a slow start, Pati Patni Aur Woh earns well

Ashutosh Gowariker’s historical war film Panipat was talked about a lot before its release yesterday. The film, however, has opened to a poor collection of Rs4–4.25 crore nett at the domestic box office, as per figures shared by BoxOfficeIndia.com.

Starring Arjun Kapoor, Sanjay Dutt and Kriti Sanon, Panipat tells the story of the Third Battle of Panipat, which took place in 1761 between the Maratha forces and Ahmad Shah Abdali of Afghanistan. The film has received mixed reviews from critics.

Panipat, obviously, needs to make a giant leap today and tomorrow if it is to have a decent opening weekend, which is important because the film has been made on a large budget of over Rs100 crore, according to trade sources.

The other release of the week, Pati Patni Aur Woh, opened to a more positive Rs8.50–8.75 crore nett. Starring Kartik Aaryan, Bhumi Pednekar and Ananya Panday, the film is an official remake of the 1978 hit of the same name starring Sanjeev Kumar, Vidya Sinha and Ranjeeta Kaur.

Directed by Mudassar Aziz, Pati Patni Aur Woh has become actor Kartik Aaryan's biggest opener. The previous biggest was Luka Chuppi (2019), which had recorded a first-day collection of Rs7.76 crore nett earlier this year. Interestingly, the leading lady in that film was Kriti Sanon.

According to our trade sources, Pati Patni Aur Woh has been made on a budget of about Rs40 crore and so it appears that the film has a good chance of recovering its cost in the first week itself, especially if, as expected, it sees a good jump in collections on the weekend.