Critics' favourite 'Haider' stumbles, grosses just Rs 30.25 cr in 6 days

Vishal Bharadwaj’s adaptation of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Haider, released on 2 October and despite the long Dussehra weekend  has grossed Rs 3o.25 crore in last 6 days. According to Box office of India, the film collected Rs 5.25 crore on the opening day and went on to collect a total of Rs 16.75 crore over the long Dussehra weekend. However, its collection has been dropping steadily since the week began and collected just Rs 4.25 crore on Monday and Rs 3 crore on Tuesday, the report said. The film has been made on a relatively small budget of Rs 37 crore, with Rs 22 crore spent on production and the remaining Rs 15 crore on publicity. Given the rave reviews by critics (read our reviews here and here ), Haider was expected to do decent business despite the relatively serious story. However, if the box office numbers are any indication, the film’s earnings have been of tragic . [caption id=“attachment_1749129” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Courtesy: Facebook[/caption] While the makers might have hoped for the critical appreciation the film has received, and Shahid Kapoor (who plays the titular role) can keep his fingers crossed for a National Award,  the cast as well as the filmmaker had also anticipated a box office debacle. To constrain the budget to a bare minimum,  Bharadwaj as well as Kapoor had not taken any fees for the film. However, the two of them, along with UTV Motion Pictures have a 33 percent  share in the distribution of the film and if the film makes any money, they will have a share in it. Although _Haider’_s subject as well as the treatment of the film is contrary to any mainstream Bollywood masala film, a possible reason for the film failing to set the cash registers ringing was Hrithik Roshan and Katrina Kaif starrer, Bang Bang! that released on the same day. A battle for screens was fought between Fox Studios (makers of Bang Bang!) and UTV Motions Pictures before the release of the films, but in the end after a lot of arm-twisting and haggling with theatre owers , Bang Bang! ended up with 4500 screens while Haider got only 1,200. However, while Bang Bang! did well at the box office over the long holiday weekend and made it to the Rs 100 crore club, the fact that it was made on a budget of Rs 150 crore means the makers of the film won’t be celebrating their earnings just yet.