'The Kashmir Files' storms the box-office, 'Bachchhan Paandey' under-performs

The Hindi film box office witnessed a surprising turn of events in the last two weeks where a virtually muted release like The Kashmir Files scripted history while superstar Akshay Kumars big scale action drama Bachchhan Paandey performed below expectations according to trade panditsVivek Agnihotris drama The Kashmir Files based on the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from the Valley in the 1990s has minted approximately Rs 179 crore since it opened in cinemas on March 11 According to trade observer Himesh Mankad the film which had a modest release across 600 screens on its opening day added 1400 more screens by the end of the first weekendAs of Monday the film is running to packed houses across 4000 screens in the country he added The films unstoppable box office run also came in the way of Kumars muchawaited Bachchhan Paandey which clocked in a weekend collection of nearly 37 crore at least 15 crore short of what the trade had expected it to collect upon its release on March 18According to trade analyst Vishek Chauhan The Kashmir Files has completely derailed Bachchhan Paandey What has happened to Bachchhan Paandey is simply an act of God You just cant predict a movement like this A film needs to occupy a mindset create enough noise and chatter for the audience to come to theatres Bachchhan Paandey just couldnt match the noise and euphoria of Kashmir Files If no ones talking about your film why will they come and watch itThe discourse from news channels social media to papers is dominated by Kashmir Files which has effectively drowned Bachchhan Paandey Chauhan told PTIChauhan who also runs a theatre in Bihar said his property initially began with just one show of The Kashmir Files and soon increased it to three as the demand was unprecedentedOn the online ticket booking platform BookMyShow The Kashmir Files has crossed 5 million ticket sales Ashish Saksena COO iquest Cinemas BookMyShow described the film as an unexpected underdog which has become the big hero of the seasonThe blockbuster has crossed a whopping 5 million in ticket sales on BookMyShow within less than two weeks making it the second fastest Hindi film to reach this mark following that of the megamovie Dangal The booking platform has witnessed maximum traction for The Kashmir Files across Mumbai DelhiNCR Bengaluru Pune Hyderabad Kolkata and ChennaiChauhan said The Kashmir Files a film without any commercial elements like songs or a star powerfound a solid ground to fly partly due to its emotional content and the widespread government push it has received The film garnered support from the government including Prime Minister Narendra Modi Union Home Minister Amit Shah and several leaders from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party BJP who endorsed the movieIt was also declared taxfree in states like Uttar Pradesh Gujarat Madhya Pradesh Uttarakhand Haryana Karnataka Tripura and Goa When PM Modi says a film like this needs to be made and promoted that makes a lot of difference Last time our PM spoke about a film was Uri and we all know what happened to the film When he said Hows the josh that film went viralSimilarly Kashmir Files has now become a movement to support the Kashmiri Pandits cause There is a sense that What happened to them was terrible We couldnt do anything but at least we can show our support by buying a ticket That has resulted in a herd mentality where those who hadnt watched it felt left out When they started to come in it became a wave Chauhan saidAccording to the exhibitor the movie managed to collect the historic figures because it ceased to be just a film The film has tapped into that bracket of viewers who rarely step inside a cinema hall because they feel like watching Kashmir Files is supporting the movement Its working on all these level as a film and as a political narrative which is why these collections Otherwise its not possibleMankad said Bachchhan Paandey was pitted against a juggernaut like The Kashmir Files but had little going for it in terms of the content The Farhad Samjidirectorial also stars Kriti Sanon Arshad Warsi and Jacqueline FernandezEven before The Kashmir Files became this movement even before the taxfree announcements came in the film had garnered massive interest in people Its content whether one calls it propaganda or something else had clicked In contrast the audience just didnt seem excited enough for Bachchhan PaandeyPushpa released along with the biggie Spiderman last December faced 83 and yet did well with its numbers A good film will brave through competition Bachchhan Paandey got hit there as the audience feedback was mixed unlike Kashmir Files which has been unanimous he addedNext week The Kashmir Files will run alongside SS Rajamoulis muchawaited action drama RRR The multilingual headlined by Jr NTR and Ram Charan is billed as one of the biggest films of Indian cinemaThe wave of Kashmir Files will eventually stabalise but RRR is also expected to become a range If Rajamoulis film connects it can fly too We have enough screens and audience to accommodate two indemand films so thats not a worry trade wise Mankad addedThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever