Shahid Kapoor’s latest film, Kabir Singh, has braved savage critical reviews to deliver the biggest box office opening of the actor’s career. The romantic drama is projected to make Rs 70 crore in its first weekend. According to a Box Office India report, the film added approximately Rs 25 crore on Sunday, taking its total to over Rs 68 crore.

Kabir Singh had made Rs 20 crore on Friday, another Rs 22 crore on Saturday, for a two-day total of Rs 42 crore. Trade analyst Taran Adarsh pointed out that the film had sustained numbers despite the India vs Afghanistan match at the ongoing Cricket World Cup. He called the film ‘unstoppable and unshakeable’. He also predicted a Sunday total of between Rs 25 and Rs 27 crore.

The BOI report speculates that the film could register the biggest Sunday figures of 2019 once the actual numbers come in, beating the Rs 27 crore haul of Salman Khan’s recent blockbuster, Bharat.

Despite harsh reviews, which criticised Kabir Singh’s celebration of toxic masculinity and its poor treatment of women, the film has been a box office success, just like Arjun Reddy (the Telugu film on which Kabir Singh is based) was back in 2017. Both films are directed by Sandeep Reddy Vanga, and much criticism has been directed at the remake’s lack of originality and blatant similarity.

The Hindustan Times review, awarding the film one-and-a-half stars out of five, noted that “Kabir Singh applauds its pathetic protagonist, and ends up an obnoxious celebration of toxic masculinity.”

A Rs 70 crore opening weekend would put Kabir Singh behind Ranveer Singh’s Gully Boy (Rs 72 crore) and Akshay Kumar’s Kesari (Rs 78 crore) and ahead of the Rs 62 crore three-day total of Kalank in the 2019 rankings.

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First Published: Jun 24, 2019 08:43 IST