Hrithik Roshan-Saif Ali Khan film struggles
Despite good reviews and a positive word of mouth, Hrithik Roshan and Saif Ali Khan’s neo-noir action thriller Vikram Vedha is facing a hard time at the box office. The film, which collected Rs 10.58 crore on Friday and Rs 12.51 crore on Saturday is expected to earn about Rs. 14-15 crore on Sunday, as per early estimates. However, first weekend collection of Rs 38-39 crore is low for a film that came with a mammoth star power. It also puts a question mark on remakes in this era of OTT when films from across the world are being consumed the audience; Vikram Vedha is the remake of the Tamil hit also helmed Pushkar-Gayatri.
Box Office India reported that Hrithik-Saif starrer will make about Rs 15 crore on Sunday as mass markets remain cold to the film. According to the same report, since it is pre Dussehra, the film can pick pace from Wednesday. However, the film needs to stay strong at the box-office on Monday to stay in the race. The slow start is mainly due to the mass belts like Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad and Bengaluru underwhelming response to the film. Business in places like Kolkata and Gujarat is mainly affected due to Navratri and Dussehra celebrations. Hence it is anticipated that the film will pick pace from Wednesday.
However, Vikram Vedha’s performance on the third day has been better than Ranbir Kapoor’s Shamshera (Rs. 10-11 crores) and Aamir Khan’s Laal Singh Chaddha (Rs. 8.75 crore) in recent past.
The film has impressed the critics as well as the audience. The Pushkar-Gayathri directorial, according to the critics, served well to the audience who have not watched the original film. The Indian Express’ film critic Shubhra Gupta said that Hrithik Roshan and Saif Ali Khan sink their teeth into a proper story which comes before them. She added, “What with the crisp pace, the undercurrent of humour, the smart plotting which made light of its density, and all of it overlaid that zippy theme tune, Vikram Vedha was a cracking good time at the movies.”