'Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3' vs 'Singham Again': Ajay Devgn's film falls behind Kartik Aaryan's horror comedy in non-theatrical sales

This Diwali will witness a mega clash at the box office as Ajay Devgn's commercial actioner Singham Again and Kartik Aaryan's much-awaited horror-comedy Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 will hit the theatres. Ahead of their theatrical release, both the films have secured big deals from various OTT platforms, as per media reports. 

Singham Again has got around Rs 130 crore from its digital partner Amazon Prime, making it the biggest OTT deal for Ajay Devgn and Rohit Shetty respectively.

"It's a big film and hence, a big deal. The overall non-theatrical sale is around Rs 180-200 crore mark, with satellite and music getting another Rs 50-70 crore," a source was quoted as saying by Bollywood Hungama. 

Meanwhile, reports suggested that Singham Again has fetched a non-theatrical deal worth over Rs 200 crore from Jio Cinema including satellite, digital, and musical rights. Ajay Devgn's upcoming film has been mounted on a massive budget of Rs 350-375 crore, excluding print and advertisement spends.

Even though Singham Again is ahead of Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 in terms of earning, the upcoming Kartik Aaryan film is ahead in terms of budget recovery. The digital, satellite and music rights of Kartik Aaryan's upcoming film have been sold for around Rs 135 crore, as per Sacnilk.

While Netflix has post-theatrical streaming rights, Sony Network has its digital rights. Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 is mounted at a budget of over Rs 150 crore, implying that the makers have covered a large part of the budget through pre-sale of non-theatrical rights. 

Helmed by Rohit Shetty, Singham Again is the fifth instalment of Shetty's Cop Universe and a sequel to the 2014 film Singham Returns. Singham Again's theme revolves around Ramayana.

The film stars Ajay Devgn, Deepika Padukone, Kareena Kapoor, Arjun Kapoor, and Jackie Shroff in significant roles. Singham Again also has cameos from Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, and Tiger Shroff. 

Directed by Anees Bazmee, Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 focuses on Rooh Baba who ventures into a haunted mansion and clashes with Manjulika. Besides Kartik Aaryan, the film features an ensemble cast of Triptii Dimri, Vidya Balan, Madhuri Dixit, Vijay Raaz, Rajpal Yadav, Sanjay Mishra, and Manish Wadhwa.

Both the films are set to release in theatres worldwide on November 1 this year.