Brahmastra Box Office Day 1 collection: Ranbir-Alia film earns Rs 43.5 crore but reviews hurt

The Ranbir Kapoor – Alia Bhatt starrer Brahmastra: Part One – Shiva started off with strong collections on day 1. According to reports and trade analysts, the movie’s opening day figures, which are around Rs 43.3 crore, were the highest since Sanju’s day 1 earnings of Rs 34.75 crore. Sanju was released in 2018. But mixed reviews have put the Rs 450-crore film at risk of facing losses. In fact, PVR and Inox stocks yesterday fell over 5% in the stock market once the reviews started coming in. Greater clarity will emerge over the weekend if the film will recover the production cost. The producers can hope that the VFX in the movie, which has largely received a thumbs up, will continue to draw the audience to the theatres.  The opening day figures are at least a positive start despite the flak the film has received from reviewers.

According to trade analyst Sumit Kadel, the movie earned around Rs 43.50 crore on day 1, with the Hindi version earning Rs 32 crore, and other versions earning Rs 5 crore in India. Globally, he said the movie grossed around Rs 75 crore in total on day 1.  

Earlier, a report on Boxofficeindia.com highlighted that the Ayan Mukerji film may earn around Rs 35-36 crore net in all its versions. The report added that the Hindi version collected around Rs 32-33 crore net, whereas around $8-10 million is expected from the overseas collection. With these numbers, Brahmastra has left behind the opening day collections of pre-pandemic movies like Bahubali-Conclusion, Sanju, Tiger Zinda Hai, and Dhoom 3. Till recent times, the highest day 1 earnings were reported by SS Rajamouli's Bahubali - The Conclusion, which collected Rs 41 crore. The film was released in Telugu and Tamil simultaneously and was dubbed in Hindi.

Also read: Brahmastra review: VFX-heavy Ranbir-Alia starrer unfolds a grand vision

Brahmastra Part One: Shiva is the first part of the trilogy set in Astraverse based on ancient Indian astras, and also stars Amitabh Bachchan, Nagarjuna, and Mouni Roy in lead roles. The movie, which was made on a mega budget of Rs 410 crore, has been directed by Ayan Mukerji and produced by Karan Johar. Bahubali director SS Rajamouli has supervised the VFX and special effects.  

Earnings and advance bookings   

The film has reportedly seen over 2 lakh tickets being sold across PVR cinemas properties in India for its opening weekend. Coming to the Day 1 collections, the movie has done well in the multiplexes, besides some great numbers coming in from spot bookings. According to a report in Bollywood Hungama, the three national chains have collected around Rs 18.50 crore from all the versions, whereas the non-national chains added another Rs 18.50 crore to take the Day 1 earnings to the Rs 37-crore mark.  

Also read: Bollywood's Brahmastra: What's at stake for whom in this Ranbir Kapoor-Alia Bhatt starrer 

Of the Rs 37 crore, the Hindi version earned around Rs 32 crore, while the vernacular version collected another Rs 5 crore, the report added. With this momentum, trade analysts feel the movie might join the elite club of Rs 100 crore by end of this weekend.

 

First day: Strong opening  

A report by BoxOfficeIndia.com said that the movie saw a 40-50 per cent occupancy during morning shows, which is the highest for any Hindi film since the pandemic. Later in the day, the movie saw excellent numbers in Mumbai, Delhi NCR, Pune, Hyderabad, and Bangalore, trade analysts said. Due to the Ganesh Chaturthi half day, cities in Maharashtra recorded good numbers in the second half. The Nizam and Mysore circuits were also expected to record huge collections in the South.

Many experts feel that the movie is a one-time watch and that the weak content can make its survival difficult in the coming weeks, which will add to its losses, and it might not recover the production cost.   

Made on a massive budget of around Rs 450 crores, Brahmastra marketed itself as a mix of mythology and never seen before visual effects. Expectations were that the film would end Bollywood's dry run at the box office and give the audience enough reason to turn up at the theatres after debacles like Laal Singh Chaddha, Raksha Bandhan, and Liger.