Ranbir Kapoor film Bombay Velvet has failed to displace Deepika Padukone’s Piku, according to box office figures.
“A colossal flop”, “a debacle”, “a disaster” are some of the comments by film trade analysts about Anurag Kashyap’s high-budget drama Bombay Velvet, which is set in 1960s Bombay.
Released on May 15, the film, which also stars Anushka Sharma and marked the acting debut of Karan Johar, only managed to make Rs52 million on its opening day and Rs51 million and Rs58 million on Saturday and Sunday respectively.
According to trade expert Taran Adarsh, its weekend total amounts to around Rs161 million. He also called the film a “debacle” on Twitter.
Trade analyst Komal Nahta said: “It’s very bad. Bombay Velvet earned just [Rs162.5 million]. That should have been the day one collection instead of the weekend collection.
“But you can’t compare Bombay Velvet to other films because of its budget of [Rs1.08 billion]. With that amount, it should have collected [Rs150 million] on day 1. The film is a colossal flop,” he added.
Another film expert, Vinod Mirani said the movie was a disaster.
However, Kashyap has no regrets about making the film, which has been his dream project for the past nine years.
“A lot of people do not connect with it and a small number of people did... Maybe our experimenting with the narrative didn’t work for most but I firmly believe in the film,” he posted on his Facebook page.
The one film that has continued its success story is Shoojit Sircar’s slice-of-life entertainer Piku, which stars Amitabh Bachchan, Irrfan Khan and Padukone telling an endearing family tale through their lovable characters.
Piku is running successfully at the cinemas and has made Rs146 million in its second weekend, which takes its total collection to Rs560.2 million. In its opening weekend, it made more than Rs250 million.
The film is also being tagged as a hit overseas as it has earned $4.3 million (Dh15.7 million).
In fact, Adarsh has called Piku the “biggest hit of 2015 overseas.”
As far as the box office future of Bombay Velvet and Piku is concerned, it will be decided by Kangana Ranaut and R. Madhavan film Tanu Weds Manu Returns, which has quite a positive buzz about it.
Directed by Anand L. Rai, the film, which stars the same cast from 2011 film Tanu Weds Manu, will release in the UAE on Thursday.
