Box office: Brahmastra has a robust opening, Laal Singh Chadhha, Raksha Bandhan wrap up their run

Ayan Mukerji’s much touted film Brahmastra Part One: Shiva (2022) has been a breathlessly anticipated film. Starring real-life couple Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt, the title takes from the mythological weapon of mass destruction and weaves a fantasy world of super powers and the fight between good and evil.

With a fabulous advance booking, the film has seen a robust opening with a 100 plus audience showing up in around 40-50% of the cinemas it was released in, as per BoxOfficeIndia. The cities have seen an excellent response, aided by the holiday in Maharashtra on account of Anant Chaturthi. It is also anticipated that it will do well in the South as the occupancy was very good here as well. 

While this has come as a huge relief for the Hindi film industry, which has been on tenterhooks with the recent failure of big-budget, star led films like Shamshera (2022), Laal Singh Chaddha (2022), and Raksha Bandhan (2022), just to name a few, it remains to see if Brahmastra will sustain this trend over its opening weekend and beyond.

Meanwhile, Akshay Kumar-starrer Raksha Bandhan wrapped up its run in theatres this week, netting a total of Rs 45 crore. BoxOfficeIndia reported that the overseas run of the film has also been dismal. Made at a budget of Rs70 crore, the film has only been saved by its revenue from satellite and digital rights.

Laal Singh Chaddha (2022), anticipated to be Aamir Khan’s tour-de-force has perhaps become his biggest folly, closing this week at 60 crore nett as its lifetime business. Made on a whopping budget of 180 crore, the brunt of the losses will be borne by Khan, who decided to forgo his fee due to the underwhelming performance of the film, as reported by BusinessToday. This move has definitely diminished the magnitude of the losses of the film.