Following a promising upward trend over the weekend, director Ayan Mukerji’s Brahmastra appears to have passed the crucial Monday test. According to Pinkvilla, the fantasy drama made a reported Rs 16.25 crore on day four of release — Rs 14.25 crore from the Hindi markets, and another Rs 2 crore from the dubbed language versions. Discrepancies are being observed in the box office reporting for Brahmastra; Dharma Productions, meanwhile, has been sharing gross figures daily, without citing sources.
Brahmastra, starring Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt, has so far grossed over Rs 143 crore in India, and Rs 65 crore from overseas markets, taking its global total to around Rs 209 crore in four days, according to Bollywood Hungama. Brahmastra registered the fifth-biggest start for a Bollywood film in overseas markets, after Padmaavat ($11.50 million), Dhoom 3 ($10.30 million), Sultan ($9.60 million), Dilwale ($8.80 million) and Dangal ($8.70 million).
It will soon become Ranbir’s third film to cross the Rs 150 crore mark, after Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani and Sanju. Ranbir was coming off a major commercial disappointment Shamshera — his third big-budget flop after Bombay Velvet and Jagga Jasoos.
The IMAX version of the film is playing rather well, and registered 50% occupancy, and is holding particularly well in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. It is believed that the film will ultimately have to depend on multiplex markets to sustain business.
Brahmastra is headed for a Rs 175 crore first week, and is expected to hit the Rs 250 crore mark in India, and is predicted to finish its worldwide theatrical run with around Rs 450 crore. But the film cost a reported Rs 410 crore to produce, and will have to rely on ancillary revenue for profits.
The film was released amid sustained calls for a boycott, and several adjacent controversies. It was also carrying the burden of the Hindi film industry’s fortunes, after numerous back-to-back debacles. Also starring Amitabh Bachchan, Nagarjuna Akkineni, Mouni Roy, Dimple Kapadia, and featuring Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone in cameo appearances, Brahmastra is intended as the first instalment of a trilogy.