It’s the victory of the good over evil. The much in the news period drama ‘Padmaavat’ has managed to work wonders at the box office. This is despite Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan (three big states with huge potential) not showing the film. Haryana too isn’t screening the film while in Bihar, the film released only on Monday and was greeted with house full boards outside theatres!
Very few people expected ‘Padmaavat’ to do so well despite not getting an all-India release. In the past, ‘Jodhaa Akbar’ (2008) didn’t have a release in Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. It later released in some centres in these states but it was too late. The film however did a decent business of 56.04 crore. ‘Fanaa’ (2006), on the other hand, had a no show in Gujarat and yet, it did 51.87 crore which was huge at that point. But in case of ‘Padmaavat’, the stakes were higher as it’s a very expensive film. The threats were more extreme this time and it affected 4 major states – Rajasthan, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana. Thankfully, the Supreme Court made it clear that the ban imposed on the film in these states is unfair. The film saw a release in Uttar Pradesh and that surely would have given a boost to the film. Otherwise, collections would have been affected more. But Gujarat, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh were big markets and there was a fear that this can hamper the collections a lot. Also, the film is very expensive and needs to make 200 crore anyhow.
Thankfully, the film has already earned around 176.50 crore in 10 days. The film is expected to reach 200 crore soon. There are talks of ‘Padmaavat’ releasing in Gujarat in Week 2 and if that happens, the second week collections can be a lot better. What has also helped is that the word of mouth is extremely positive. Moreover, it’s a grand film that deserves a big screen watch. As a result, the audience prefer to watch it on the big screen.
The acceptance of ‘Padmaavat’ is once again a loss of all the anti-social elements that tried to create trouble. The fact that viewers came out in hordes, despite heavy police protection and fear looming around, shows that these terrorist forces have faced a crushing defeat!