Vivek Agnihotri's highly anticipated film The Bengal Files finally released in theatres on Friday, but its opening day collections have fallen well below expectations.
What's Happening
- According to early estimates from industry tracker Sacnilk, the political thriller earned around Rs 1.75 crore (India nett) on its first day.
- The performance is notably lacklustre, especially in comparison to Agnihotri's earlier film The Kashmir Files, which opened to Rs 3.55 crore and later became a major box office success.
- As The Bengal Files serves as the final installment in Agnihotri's Files Trilogy, which covers sensitive events from modern Indian history and features much of the same principal cast as The Kashmir Files, expectations for the film's launch were considerably high.
- The film's occupancy stood at 21.24% across India on the opening day. Morning shows began with a weak 15.08%, followed by a slight improvement in the afternoon to 18.58%.
- Evening and night shows saw marginally better numbers at 22.08% and 29.20%, respectively.
- Major centres like Delhi-NCR and Mumbai saw occupancy rates of 21.75% and 20.75%, showing limited traction.
Background
Starring Anupam Kher, Mithun Chakraborty, Pallavi Joshi, and Darshan Kumar in lead roles, The Bengal Files has underperformed even compared to other recent releases.
Sonu Sood's directorial debut, Fateh, earned Rs 2.45 crore on its first day, while Himesh Reshammiya's Badass Ravikumar opened to Rs 2.75 crore.
The film is also facing stiff competition from other big releases across languages. Hollywood's horror sequel The Conjuring: Last Rites collected approximately Rs 18 crore on its opening day, while Tiger Shroff's Baaghi 4 brought in around Rs 12 crore.
The Malayalam blockbuster Lokah: Chapter 1 - Chandra has dominated the domestic box office with a staggering Rs 62.45 crore so far.
The film's launch has reportedly faced resistance, especially in West Bengal, where director Vivek Agnihotri has alleged that theatre owners were pressured not to screen the film.
