Thappad has taken a fair start at the box-office as the film raked in approximately Rs. 2.60 to 3.00 crore on its opening day with the biz sky rocketing in the high end multiplexes in the metros towards the evening and night shows. The positive reports from the media have pushed day one of the film, which is better than the general sentiment of the trade. If the audience word of mouth also resonates with the sentiment in the media, the collections will jump big on Saturday followed by another minor jump on Sunday taking the weekend to a respectable number of 12 to 13 crore.
As it has been the case with all films this year, the hold in collections on Monday followed by a healthy trend on weekdays will take the film towards the success route, but at the moment it’s a wait and watch scenario. Thappad is made on a limited budget, and a 30 crore plus lifetime total will put the makers in the black. The biz is driven by Mumbai and Delhi, however the mass belts is more of a no show. A few single screens have recorded collections as low as Rs. 500 and Rs 1000 to the capacity of 2.50 lakh, which speaks volumes about the interest around the topic in heart land of India.
Films like Thappad appeal to a very limited set of audience, as the treatment doesn’t find takers barring the high-end multiplexes in the city and hence reach the saturation point at the box-office sooner than the general expectations. The opening day collections are better at most places, particularly the national chains than Kangana Ranaut’s recently released sport drama, Panga (2.70 crore), and this is a big feat considering that Thappad is far more niche as compared to Panga in terms of appeal. Panga fared relatively better at the mass belts, which might give it a slight edge in the final figures and we can draw a conclusion only once they are out tomorrow morning. The day one biz is however lower than Deepika Padukone’s Chhapaak (Rs 4.77 crore).
A double digit weekend will put the film in a good position, but Monday in the same range as Friday is essential to keep the film in the contention to emerge a success.
