Newton box office collection day 2: Positive reviews might work in favour of Rajkummar Rao starrer

Newton box office collection day 2: This film should pick up.

Newton, starring Rajkummar Rao and Pankaj Tripathi, may have started slow due to low number of screens, but the announcement of it being selected as India’s official entry to Academy Awards’ Best Foreign Language Film category should give it a boost. It collected Rs 96 lakh on its opening day. This Aamit Masurkar directorial is being praised almost everywhere critically and has received almost universally positive reviews.

Commenting on his film’s official entry to Oscars, Rajkummar Rao had told indianexpress.com, “I am elated and super thrilled. The kind of response we are getting for the film in India is so good and now, an Oscar submission, it’s huge. I am very happy to represent India at Oscars. I hope the film makes it to the final list. But right now, I am very happy because we made the movie with a lot of passion, sincerity and honesty, and people are recognising that sincerity.”

Earlier in the day, trade analyst Taran Adarsh had tweeted the figures. “#Newton witnessed ample growth in evening and night shows… Fri ₹ 96 lakhs. India biz,” he had said. The figures are quite close to what trade analyst Girish Johar had predicted. He had said, “I am expecting ‘Newton’ to get an opening of Rs 1-1.5 crore. The film is already getting excellent feedback and good word-of-mouth. It is sure to do well in the coming days.”

#Newton witnessed ample growth in evening and night shows… Fri ₹ 96 lakhs. India biz.

— taran adarsh (@taran_adarsh) September 23, 2017

In her review of the film, Indian Express film critic Shubhra Gupta had given a positive review of the film. “Rajkummar Rao is enjoying a purple patch. After Bareilly Ki Barfi, here he is again stitching up a big performance full of small things: blinking, thinking, doing. He is at his most interesting when he is being quiet: he makes us watch. Pankaj Tripathi, as the head of the security detail, cynical yet doing the best he can, is lovely too. For once the talented Patil has been used well, and as for Raghubir Yadav, he gives us, after Peepli Live, another stand-out act, a lesson in How To Immerse Yourself Effortlessly In Your Role,” she had said.

After the announcement that it would go to Oscars, the film should get a boost. The collections over the weekend and beyond should increase also because of the word of mouth promotion these kinds of film get. It might not become a blockbuster, but the distributors should cover the costs easily.