The Kashmir Files has been doing business like no recent film has done.
The Rs 15 crore (Rs 150 million) budgeted project opened at Rs 3.55 crore (Rs 35,5 million), gaining Rs 18 crore (Rs 180 million) on its fifth day at the theatres.
To have five times the collections on Day Five and counting is truly unprecedented.
So what is happening here?
This is not a quintessential Bollywood film.
This is not a star-driven affair.
This is not a feel good movie either.
It doesn't have the kind of big screen canvas that you expect for a theatrical offering.
The spoken language is a mix of Hindi and Kashmiri.
The promotion and marketing didn't hype it up too much.
The release was nominal at 700 screens.
Still, what's happening is surprising.
What started as a small release is now playing at 2,000+ screens countrywide within three days of release.
Competition in the form of Radhe Shyam has been beaten (though it's a different matter that even without competition, the Prabhas and Pooja Hegde starrer would have failed).
Houseful shows are not just in North India, but across the country with even Maharashtra catching up. The footfalls are increasing with each day.
If word-of-mouth publicity has taken a film from an opening of Rs 3.55 crore to Rs 18 crore in just five days, one wonders how much further the film will go.
If it reaches the Rs 100 crore mark, it will be the smallest budget film to ever do so.
Big movies like Bachchhan Paandey, RRR and Attack are coming up in the next three Fridays, and yet wonders if they will dilute The Kashmir Files's box office glory.
