Bollywood 'Megastar' Amitabh Bachchan's latest movie Jhund, which hit the screens on March 4, collected a decent Rs 1.5 crore at the domestic box office on day 1 despite facing competition from The Batman. It received positive reviews with critics lauding the legend's performance and the film's theme. So did the healthy word of mouth help the sports drama witness good growth on its second day? Here is our report.
Decent day 2
Jhund picked up on March 5, collecting Rs 2.10 crore on day 2. This is a respectable figure given the fact that the movie doesn't really cater to a mass audience. Moreover, director Nagraj Manjule is not an established name in the Hindi film industry.
Deep dive
Jhund would have fared better had it not been released alongside The Batman, which proved to be the top choice of the 'Gen Y' audience in the most urban markets. It made a limited impact in Kerala as Mammootty's gangster drama Bheeshma Parvam proved to be the first choice of the mass audience in the state. The fact that last week's big release Gangubai Kathiawadi is still going strong too worked against Big B's film.
Jhund vs Chehre
Jhund has outperformed Big B's previous release Chehre as the Anand Pandit-backed thriller had collected Rs 1.05 crore in its first two days. This, however, isn't too surprising as director Rumy Jafry's movie didn't release in Maharashtra as cinemas were shut due to the Covid-19 situation in the state.
The road ahead
Manjule's maiden Hindi film is likely to witness some growth today as it is the first Sunday. It, however, remains to be seen whether this is enough to help it emerge as a commercial success in the long run. Jhund will face stiff competition from Prabhas' Radhe Shyam, slated to hit the screen on March 11, as 'Darling' enjoys a strong fan following in most markets because of his work in the Baahubali films and Saaho.