‘Zara Hatke Zara Bachke’, which released last week, was expected to be yet another underperforming film of the year. The challenges in front of the film were immense – the trailer had not worked, the star cast was not that exciting and the perception had spread that it looks like an OTT film.
However, ‘Zara Hatke Zara Bachke’ overcame all these challenges. The makers played on the film’s plusses – the song “Phir Aur Kya Chahiye” became a hit, the film came at a time when there was a dearth of big Hindi releases. Also, despite the weak trailer, the film seemed relatable. The lead actors, Vicky Kaushal and Sara Ali Khan, also went all out with promotions.
A day before the release, the makers announced that those who book the tickets on the popular ticketing app, BookMyShow, will get one ticket free on every ticket. This led to a spike in bookings.
Due to a combination of these factors, ‘Zara Hatke Zara Bachke’ opened at a huge Rs. 5.25 Crore. The industry and trade expectation was that it will open at Rs. 2 Crore. Hence, no one ever imagined that this film’s opening would be more than recent bigger films like ‘Shehzada’ (Rs. 5.03 Crore) and ‘Selfiee’ (Rs. 2.60 Crore)! The word of mouth is mixed. Yet, it grew on Saturday, collecting Rs. 7 Crore and on Sunday, it further jumped to Rs. 9.50 Crore. The BookMyShow offer was extended till Monday. On the fourth day, it collected Rs. 3.75 Crore. There was no offer on Tuesday and yet it collected Rs. 3.50 Crore. The first week’s collections are expected to be around Rs. 35 Crore. If all goes well, ‘Zara Hatke Zara Bachke’ will have a lifetime of Rs. 50 Crore.
Many felt that ‘Zara Hatke Zara Bachke’ did so well due to the BookMyShow offer. But then many cinemas saw spot bookings. The offer was not valid in such a scenario. This shows that there was a lot of interest among the moviegoers to watch the film which the industry and trade failed to notice.
‘Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse’, the other release last week, is also doing great. The film collected around Rs. 18 Crore in its extended weekend (it released on Thursday, June 1). It will collect around Rs. 30-35 Crore in its lifetime and this is a feat for an animated version.
This week’s big theatrical release is ‘Transformers: Rise Of The Beasts’. The series is not that popular in India. Releasing on Thursday, June 8, it just has one week to score as next week will see the release of two big films, ‘Adipurush’ and ‘The Flash’.
On OTT, the big release is ‘Bloody Daddy’. It stars Shahid Kapoor and is directed by Ali Abbas Zafar. The film looks quite cinematic but it’s releasing on Jio Cinema. Since the film will be available for free, the viewership is expected to be tremendous.
Finally, ‘Gadar’ (2001) will re-release in cinemas tomorrow, June 9. The decision was taken as ‘Gadar 2’ will arrive in cinemas on Independence Day this year. Not much is expected for the first part to do well in cinemas as it has been consumed tremendously by viewers over the years. Yet, one should be prepared for a surprise. Earlier this year, ‘Jab We Met’ (2007) re-released on Valentine’s Day 2023 and got decent occupancy. ‘Gadar’ might also follow suit.
