Shocking Opening For Selfiee At The Box Office

It was a disappointing weekend for Bollywood as Selfiee didn't do well at the box office.

There were expectations that this south remake would find audiences at least in the urban centres. After all, the film looked classy, its original Malayalam film Driving License has been much appreciated on OTT.

Moreover, Akshay Kumar led the show and Emraan Hashmi has an equal part to play.

Still, the opening day numbers of Rs 2.55 crore (Rs 25 million) were a shocker and even though footfalls did get better on Saturday and Sunday, the overall weekend number is still quite low at Rs 11 crore* (Rs 110 million).

This should have been the first day collections for the Raj Mehta (Good Newwz, JugJugg Jeeyo) directorial, which has seen Karan Johar's Dharma Productions and Star Studios come together.

From here, the film will fold up under Rs 20 crore (Rs 200 million), as it would stay in theatres primarily till the release of Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar, which arrives early next week instead of the regular Friday to make the most of the Holi festival.

The Ranbir Kapoor-Shraddha Kapoor starrer has everything going in its favour currently. The promo has been appreciated, especially in the A centres, and the songs have worked quite well. Also, the cast has good visibility in the B and C centres as well which means the film has the potential to penetrate these territories too.

Director Luv Ranjan has been known to make films which showcase a different side of the female thought process and he has been unabashedly politically incorrect in bringing that aspect on the big screen. Time and again, he has found success with this genre of film-making (Pyaar Ka Punchnama, Pyaar Ka Punchnama 2, Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety).

By the look of things, this one is also a bittersweet relationship between his lead pair with a revenge drama angle, as one jilted lover takes on the other.

Meanwhile, Pathaan continues to grab audience attention.

Last weekend, the Shah Rukh Khan starrer collected over Rs 5.25 crore (Rs 52.5 million). The overall collections has crossed Rs 525 crore (Rs 5.25 billion) and the Hindi version to stands at a huge Rs 507.20 crore* (Rs 5.072 billion).

Now less than Rs 4 crore (Rs 40 million) remain for the YRF film to surpass the lifetime numbers of the Hindi version of Baahubali: The Conclusion (Rs 511 crore/Rs 5.11 billion) and that should happen by the next weekend.

*Estimates. Final numbers awaited

Note: All collections as per production and distribution sources.