Box office: Mrunal Thakur's 'Aankh Micholi' collects only Rs. 20L
What's the story
Aankh Micholi, directed by Umesh Shukla, fell flat on its face on Friday.
Starring Paresh Rawal, Mrunal Thakur, Abhimanyu Dassani, and Vijay Raaz, among others, the film was pitted against a slew of new albeit low-buzz releases like UT69, Shastry Viruddh Shastry, The Lady Killer, Three of Us (the last two were released on few screens), among others.
It reportedly earned just Rs. 20L.
Context
Why does this story matter?
Aankh Micholi was touted to be a family entertainer and, since it dealt with the topic of night blindness, had generated some buzz.
Thanks to Thakur's popularity, it seemed the strongest among all the Friday releases, and Shukla's previous experience directing OMG - Oh My God!, among others, also raised some expectations.
However, the lack of aggressive marketing has seemingly led to its downfall.
BO
Maximum turnout registered during night shows
Per trade tracker Sacnilk, Aankh Micholi collected Rs. 20L (Early estimates) with an overall 8.66% occupancy in the theaters on Friday.
The maximum turnout was registered during the night shows (11.42%), followed by the afternoon shows (8.38%) and evening shows (7.98%).
The reviews were mixed-to-negative, and the film faced tough competition from Vikrant Massey's 12th Fail, which seems to be cinemagoers' first choice currently.
Thakur's perspective
Earlier, Thakur spoke about doing more comedies
Speaking about Aankh Micholi earlier, Thakur had said, "The best compliment I have got from Umesh sir is that my (comic) timing is good and I should consider more comedy films, which I am."
"I really want to entertain my audience and make them laugh because not many comedy films are being made that we can watch with our families," she added.
Comedies
Bollywood facing lull in comedies in recent times
Notably, Bollywood seems to be facing a lull when it comes to out-and-out comedy entertainers in recent times.
While Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 and Dream Girl 2 were commercial hits, they were hollow at their core, and their "laughter" bits were coerced, mechanical, and plain unfunny.
Rohit Shetty's Cirkus last year was another disaster.
However, Housefull 5 next year might alter things for the better.