Box-Office Predictions: Mubarakan, Indu Sarkar, Valerian And The City Of A Thousand Planets

It has been long since a film took double digit opening at the box-office and looking at this week releases, the scenario is expected to remain on the same lines. The box-office struggle to bring in good moolah will continue, though this Friday (28 July), will see the release of three anticipated movies.

Mubarakan, just like any other Bollywood commercial film, is expected to take a decent start, but might fail to stabilize on the same. In the past few months, Bollywood has witnessed many three-day weekend wonders, which falls drastically in the weekdays. For Mubarakan, to not be a weekend wonder, good reviews and strong word of mouth is a must.

Also, the fact that Mubarakan will only have a week in its kitty, as Shah Rukh Khan’s starrer Jab Harry Met Sejal will be releasing a week after, followed by Akshay Kumar starrer Toilet: Ek Prem Katha, Mubarakan is expected to find itself in all sorts of trouble. Even if the film sustains, it is going to struggle post week one.

Mubarakan has been moderately promoted. The music of Mubarakan is average and the trailers have fared well. The film is expected to score less than Arjun Kapoor’s last release Half Girlfriend, which brought in Rs 9.25 crore on opening day. Looking at the trends, Mubarakan is expected to bring in Rs 7-8 crore on Friday (28 July). Being a rom-com and a family drama, the film is expected to see a jump in collections on Saturday (29 July) and Sunday (30 July).

The second major release of the week is Indu Sarkar. The Madhur Bhandarkar film has been surrounded by all sorts of controversies since its trailer release. However, the controversies have helped the movie gather good pre-release buzz. The film will get a very controlled release, due to protests in many regions of the country. The film has been cleared for release with an ‘A’ certificate by the Censor Board of Film Certification.

Indu Sarkar collections will be highly dependent on good reviews and word of mouth. The film is expected to open on the lines of Rs 2-3 crore, but has great potential to grow in the coming days. If the film gathers good reviews, a two-fold jump on Saturday and Sunday won’t be surprising. Last week releases; Dunkirk and Lipstick Under My Burkha gather excellent numbers in the limited screens, due to strong word of mouth coming in.

‘Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets’ is the big Hollywood release this week. The sci-fi adventure film has created good buzz, but the reviews are a big let-down. The film is riding on below average reviews from the international critics. The film saw an international release on July 21.

The Luc Besson film will target selected audience in India and is expected to do well in the multiplexes. The film is expected to open between Rs 2-2.5 crore on Day 1.