Aamir Khan’s Laal Singh Chaddha has beaten Akshay Kumar-starrer Raksha Bandhan at the box office collection on the first day of its release. The development came amidst call for a boycott of Aamir’s film for his past comments on the growing religious intolerance in India under the government headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Writing about the box office collection of Akshay Kumar’s film, Bollywood trade analyst, Taran Adarsh, tweeted, “#RakshaBandhan has a disappointing start on Day 1… Mass circuits perform better [good occupancy in evening shows], but metros are extremely weak… Biz needs to grow/jump from Fri-Sun to improve its prospects… Thu ₹ 8.20 cr. #India biz.”
However, Aamir’s film collected more than Rs. 12 crore on the first day of its release.
“#LaalSinghChaddha is shockingly low on Day 1… The dull start has added to the woes of an ailing industry… Better at premium multiplexes, but mass circuits are weak… Needs to score big numbers from Fri-Sun to salvage the situation… Thu ₹ 12 cr. #India biz. *ALL* VERSIONS,” Adarsh wrote in his subsequent tweet.
Laal Singh Chadha is a remake of Hollywood classic, Forrest Gump. The film has been directed by Advait Chandan with a screenplay done by Eric Roth and Atul Kulkarni.
This is Aamir’s first major film since Dangal, which broke box office records both in India and abroad. Laal Singh Chaddha also stars Kareena Kapoor Khan and Shah Rukh Khan in a cameo role.
As for Akshay, his last film, Prithviraj, had bombed at the box office. The actor desperately needs a hit under his belt to keep himself relevant in the Hindi film industry. The weekend performance of both the film will indicate whether they stand any chance of recovering from the loss.