Aditya Dhar’s Dhurandhar has finally lost steam after an unprecedented run at the box office. However, even on day 43 (Friday), it is able to outpace Day 1 perfomance of newly-released films.
Happy Patel Day 1
As per fresh reports, Dhurandhar minted ₹1.65 crore at the box office on Friday, which is six weeks after release. New release Happy Patel Khatarnak Jasoos, directed by Vir Das, stuggled a lot on opening day and earned just ₹1.25 crore, as per Sacnilk.com.
However, Happy Patel is a spy comedy, made on a much smaller budget. It is still produced by Aamir Khan, who also has a cameo in the movie. Happy Patel: Khatarnak Jasoos had an overall 9.57% Hindi occupancy on day 1.
The other release of the week is Pulkit Samrat’s Rahu Ketu. It also managed to earn just ₹1 crore.
An underdog movie
When asked about the theatrical prospects of the movie, which is releasing at a time when only big-budget spectacles like Dhurandhar are working at the box office, Vir Das said to PTI that his is a small “underdog” film with big dreams.
“I’m no one to lay any claims to film industry knowledge. This film was shot in 31 days… We really are a small size film. I think we have probably the catering budget of Border 2, if you think about it. I like to think of us as an underdog who takes big swings. That’s how I perceive this movie.”
Das said while stand-up comedy can be an isolating art form, he learned to rely on others while making the movie and it turned out to be a great experience.
“I got to collaborate with Aamir Khan and there isn’t a better producer in the industry than him, especially for a concept like ours because it’s such a mad film. We have technicians that, quite frankly, we didn’t deserve… So to get to collaborate with people and really trust them to make your mad little idea better, that’s really been the joy of this.”
The HT review of film read: ‘Ultimately, a handful of performances and cameos manage to inject fleeting energy, but they cannot compensate for humour that feels thinly stretched in Happy Patel. What could have been a welcome disruption instead settles for being a mildly amusing curiosity, one that raises a chuckle here and there, but rarely the kind that lingers after the credits roll.’
