It’s celebration mode in the Hindi film industry as months of lull, finally a Hindi film has taken what we can call a very good start at the box office. The Anees Bazmee comedy, Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 with Kartik Aaryan, Kiara Advani and Tabu in lead has collected in the range of Rs 13.75 to 14.75 crore on its opening day as per early estimates.
The film started with an occupancy of 20 percent in the morning shows, which ended at 50 percent towards the night, leading to an average aggregate occupancy of 35 percent through the entire day. The movie has clocked these figures with low ticket rates, and hence, the same has even led to bigger footfalls. If we speak from the footfalls point of view, the film has sold around 8.50 lakh tickets on the opening day, which is similar to the March 2022 release, RRR. For those unaware, RRR had clocked an opening of 19.00 crore with approx. 8.50 to 9 lakh footfalls, but that was with ticket prices around 25 percent higher than Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2.
While Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 has an average ticket price of around Rs 230 on the the 900 odd polled cinema across the country, RRR was at Rs 320 (3D included), KGF 2 at Rs 272, Jersey at Rs 268 and the Hollywood biggie, Doctor Strange at highest ever price of Rs 341 (3D included) in same set of cinema halls. Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 has also emerged the biggest opener till date for Kartik Aaryan, by going past his previous best, Love Aaj Kal 2 (Rs 11.47 crore). However, unlike the Imtiaz Ali directorial, the Anees Bazmee film has good talk among the audience, which also gives it a clear shot of emerging Kartik’s highest grossing film till date by going past Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety (Rs 100.80 crore).
The opening of Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 has fuelled some oxygen in the lungs of this ailing industry, and this indicates a strong weekend on cards for the project. The good news is that the family audience has already started to step out for Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2, and it’s this audience that will ensure a healthy trend for the film on the weekdays. Sunday is expected to be very strong, with a chance of earning an upside of Rs 20 crore. Stay tuned to Pinkvilla for detailed coverage of Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2.