‘Paisa Bolta Hai’: ‘RRR’ Is Superhit, ‘KGF-Chapter 2’ Set To Take Historic Start

The last two months, since the cinema halls across India started operating at full tilt, have been terrific for Bollywood. Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s ‘Gangubai Kathiawadi’ despite its exorbitant budget, proved to be an earning proposition. The Alia Bhatt starrer notched up Rs 128 crore net in India.

SS Rajamouli’s ‘RRR’ (Hindi dubbed) has already scooped over Rs 200 crore net and its life-time business will be around Rs 240 crore net. While ‘Gangubai Kathiawadi’ earned its spurs largely in Maharashtra and Gujarat, ‘RRR’ stormed the mass circuits such as Bihar, Rajasthan, CP Berar and Central India.

Vivek Agnihotri’s ‘The Kashmir Files’ sent shock waves into the industry by clocking up record-breaking numbers. A film made on a shoe-string budget of Rs 15 crore has already racked up Rs 250 crore net in India. The film, which is without any big star and archetype commercial elements, opened with just 660 screens in India on Day 1 and garnered Rs 3 crore. But it became such a phenomenon that its screens went up to almost 4000 across India and its collections surged exponentially. No low-budget Bollywood movie since ‘Jai Santoshi Maa’ in 1975 has created such hysteria.

The business of Bollywood movies is well and truly back to the pre-pandemic levels.

All eyes are now on ‘KGF – Chapter 2’ (Hindi dubbed) and ‘Jersey’, both of which are slated to release on April 14. The advance booking of ‘KGF – Chapter 2’, which stars Kannada superstar Yash, opened on Thursday and the response has been earth-shattering.

‘KGF – chapter 2’ is the sequel of Kannada movie ‘KGF – Chapter 1’ which was released in 2018. The euphoria around the sequel in the Hindi belt is much more pronounced than its predecessor.

“I am certain ‘KGF – Chapter 2’ will garner the biggest opening of 2022 in the Hindi belt. It might even surpass the opening of biggest Bollywood blockbusters such as ‘Tiger Zinda Hai’ and ‘Sultan’. I expect the film (Hindi dubbed) to collect at least Rs 35 crore net on Day 1. The initial will astonish everyone in the trade,” says veteran exhibitor and distributor Raj Bansal.

‘Jersey’ is Shahid Kapoor’s first release after the superhit ‘Kabir Singh’ in 2019. Though the trailer of the movie is nice, the analysts think it will bear the brunt of clashing with the ‘KGF – Chapter 2’.

“I think the makers of ‘Jersey’ have made a mistake of releasing their film against ‘KGF – Chapter 2’. It should have been released on April 8. ‘Jersey’ seems like a fine family drama, but it will struggle against the storm of ‘KGF – Chapter 2’. I expect ‘Jersey’ to earn between 7-10 crore net on Day 1,” Bansal told The New Indian.

On being asked who is the biggest Bollywood star at present, who has a pan-India appeal, Bansal said, “There is no doubt that Salman Khan is the biggest Bollywood star. The sky is the limit for him if he picks up the right movies.”

“I was the distributor of ‘Ek Tha Tiger’, ‘Tiger Zinda Hai’ and ‘Sultan’ in Rajasthan. His craze among the masses is unparalleled,” he concluded.