'Ek Villain Returns' Day 1 box office performance
Mohit Suri's Ek Villain Returns arrived in theaters on Friday (July 29). Headlined by Arjun Kapoor, John Abraham, Disha Patani, and Tara Sutaria, the film has been billed as a spiritual sequel to Ek Villain. Since several recent Bollywood films drowned at the box office, trade analysts pinned their hopes on Ek Villain Returns. Let's see how it performed on its opening day.
Why does this story matter?
The 2014 romantic action thriller Ek Villain was a surprise hit and had grossed over Rs. 100cr at the box office, primarily due to its ensemble cast and evergreen, chartbuster music. Ek Villain Returns, thus, has the "franchise value" associated with it, which has previously proved to work wonders for Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2. It also marks the first collaboration of the four lead actors.
The film is off to a decent start!
Trade analyst Taran Adarsh took to Twitter on Saturday to share Ek Villian Returns' Day 1 numbers, revealing it is off to a flying start with Rs. 7.05cr. He wrote, "#EkVillainReturns reaps the benefit of franchise factor, opens better at single screens of mass pockets and Tier-2 centers." Adarsh also said the film will now need to pick up pace in metro cities.
Read Taran Adarsh's full tweet here
It is now 2022's seventh-highest Hindi grosser
With these numbers, Ek Villain Returns has now become the seventh highest Bollywood grosser of 2022. The top spot in this list is reportedly held by Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2, which opened with a massive Rs. 14.11cr, followed by Bachchhan Paandey (Rs. 13.25cr) and Samrat Prithviraj (Rs. 10.7cr). The last Bollywood release before Ek Villain Returns was Ranbir Kapoor's Shamshera, which opened with Rs. 10.25cr.
Where will we see the four actors next?
Kapoor will be seen in Kuttey and The Ladykiller, while Abraham has Tehran next in line. Abraham will also be seen alongside Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone in Pathaan. Sutaria, on the other hand, recently collaborated with producer Murad Khetani for the upcoming edge-of-the-seat thriller film Apurva. Patani will next be seen in Sagar Ambre's Yodha and Nag Ashwin's ambitious film Project K.
