Big budget masala entertainer Shamshera, Ranbir Kapoor’s first film in four years, is doing poorly at the box office. The film has raked in around Rs 10 crore on its first day of release, which is not a huge figure for something set on a reported budget of Rs 150 crore. In fact, Shamshera may actually open in lesser numbers than YRF’s other infamous box office bomb of 2022, Samrat Prithviraj, which earned Rs 10.7 crore on its opening day.
According to Box Office India, the film underperformed particularly in Mumbai, and the mass markets did not do well either. Shamshera is the second biggest release of the post-pandemic era, and is running in over 4000 theatres, which means the occupancy has been very low on the first day. The film has a rough path ahead, which is combined with less than positive reviews Finishing it off with a healthy total should make it more difficult.
Film trade analyst Komal Nahta tweeted that some shows of the film had to be canceled due to low turnout. “The onset of the sluggish Shamshera has put the already panicked Hindi film business into a state of panic! Unfortunately, the big film has a small collection!” He has written. He further added, “Another big film… but the story continues! Shamshera shows in the morning and afternoon/afternoon shows were canceled in some theaters due to the absence of audience.”
This looks to be YRF’s third flop of the year after Samrat Prithviraj and Jayeshbhai Jordaar. The studio’s last hit was 2019’s War, and it will hope to return to that form with the much-awaited Pathan of January 2023.
The potential box office disappointment of Shamshera will also be a worrying sign for Ranbir’s second film of the year, the even bigger Brahmastra. Nearly a decade in the making, the film marks his first on-screen partnership with wife Alia Bhatt, Directed and co-produced by Ayan Mukerji Karan JoharThe fantasy epic has been produced on an alleged budget of Rs 300 crore.