Dilwale vs Bajirao Mastani: which will win box office clash?

Will the masala entertainer of the Shah Rukh Khan-Kajol pair win over the period drama featuring Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone?

There was no clear winner on day one. But the stakes are high with the combined budget of both the movies close to ₹300 crore.

Unlike some of SRK’s earlier movies, Dilwale may not set new records. Multiplexes expect to see both the movies together raking up a combined collection of ₹35-40 crore on the opening day.

These initial figures are lower compared with the opening day numbers for Salman Khan’s November release Prem Ratan Dhan Payo, which earned ₹40 crore on the first day.

“Opening of Dilwale ranges from good to very good to excellent. Opening of Bajirao Mastani is ordinary to fair, but good at places,” trade analyst Komal Nahata tweeted on Friday afternoon.

Another trade analyst, Amod Mehra, said when two big budget movies clash at the box office it is not good for the exhibitors as business gets divided and both the movies tend to suffer. Since Friday is a working day, opening day records are not likely to be broken, he added.

But trade analysts do point out that with both movies backed by expensive production and marketing budgets, it will be crucial to see the kind of business they do beyond the opening weekend and how long they last at the theatres.

It is also a battle for more shows and screen space. Some multiplex chains said that the ratio of shows they are playing for Dilwale was higher than Bajirao Mastani — at about 55:45, respectively. Others said that the ratio varied from location to location.

Trade analysts and cinema owners also said initial estimates, looking at morning and afternoon shows, indicated that the collections for Dilwale were a notch higher than Bajirao Mastani maybe due to the buzz around Shah Rukh Khan and it being the comeback film of the onscreen couple SRK-Kajol.

“Both the films have had good openings. When two movies clash, one tends to be weaker than the other. But in this case both the movies are seeing a good response,” said Gautam Dutta, Chief Executive Officer, PVR.

“We are on an average seeing 70 per cent occupancies and expect to see 4.5-5 lakh admits. But we expect to see peak occupancy on Sunday and the next week,” Dutta added.

Both films have time to build their collections. “No big Bollywood movie is scheduled for release over the next two-three weeks, so the movies are expected to have a longer run at the box office,” said Devang Sampat, Head of Strategy, Cinepolis India.

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