Half Girlfriend, Hindi Medium box office collection: Slow start for new releases as Baahubali 2 reigns

Arjun Kapoor and Shraddha Kapoor-starrer Half Girlfriend has performed decently at the box office on its opening day, while Irrfan Khan’s Hindi Medium put up a poor performance. [caption id=“attachment_3460358” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Half Girlfriend and Hindi Medium. Images from Firstpost[/caption] According to Koimoi.com, romantic drama Half Girlfriend, which is directed by Mohit Suri and based on the novel of the same name by Chetan Bhagat, opened to a 25-30% occupancy in its morning shows. It has performed better in areas such as Central India, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. This film was not received well by critics, who have called it barely palatable . On its opening day, Half Girlfriend earned Rs 10.27 crore. It was released across 2500 over the country. Hindi Medium, directed by Saket Chaudhary, stars Irrfan Khan and Saba Qamar in the lead roles, and it earned a 15-20% occupancy in the morning shows. The film has received mixed reviews, with some critics giving 4.5-star ratings and others giving it a 2-star rating, critiquing it for its ending . The film is a critique of the education system in India, as well as a commentary on the hierarchies of wealth in the society. It earned Rs 2.81 crore on Friday. Made on a budget of Rs 22 crore, Hindi Medium has already recovered Rs 15 crore from digital, satellite, music and overseas rights. Even last week's releases , Ram Gopal Varma’s Sarkar 3 and Akshay Roy’s Meri Pyaari Bindu suffered similar fates. Sarkar 3 earned Rs 6.75 crore, while Meri Pyaari Bindu made Rs 6.50 crore; Ram Gopal Varma’s film was said to have performed better because it had a wider release and occupied a larger number of screens. Still, Sarkar 3 failed to pull audiences despite its star cast, which included Amitabh Bachchan, Jackie Shroff, Manoj Bajpayee and Yami Guatam. Both films were said to have suffered due to SS Rajamouli’s Baahubali 2, which continues to perform exceedingly well at the box office. It has crossed the 1500-crore mark at the international box office, and is the only Indian film to do so. The film has managed to earn this figure within 21 days of its release, and has left behind previous record holders such as Aamir Khan’s PK and Dangal. The latter has earned more than Rs 1200 crore, thanks to a record run in China, which saw its box office figures soar by Rs 500 crore. Apart from this record, Baahubali 2 is the film to cross the Rs 100-crore mark the fastest in Tamil Nadu, it is one of the highest grossers in Kerala and its Hindi-dubbed version has earned Rs 500 crore. (With inputs from IANS)