Dear Zindagi box office figures unaffected by fewer screens, demonetisation

Dear Zindagi has turned out to be a hit, Alia Bhatt’s third this year after Kapoor & Sons and Udta Punjab. The film received a good opening on its opening day — Friday, 25 November — as it garnered Rs 8.75 crore at the domestic box office. [caption id=“attachment_3134514” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  A still from Dear Zindagi[/caption] The film continued to scale up on the following weekend with Rs 11.25 crore and Rs 12.50 crore on Saturday and Sunday, respectively. The collections dipped on Monday as it earned only Rs 4.25 crore but they remained almost stable on the next two days garnering Rs 4 crore and Rs 3.25 crore on Tuesday and Wednesday. The total collections so far stand at approximately Rs 44 crore. The figure of Rs 44 crore gains significance as it is exactly the double of the budget of the film, i.e, Rs 22 crore. Add to that, the overseas collection along with the figures in the days to come. Thus, it is safe to say that the Gauri Shinde directorial is a hit at the box office. Trade analyst Taran Adarsh took to Twitter to break down the six-day collection of the film:

#DearZindagi Fri 8.75 cr, Sat 11.25 cr, Sun 12.50 cr, Mon 4.25 cr, Tue 4 cr, Wed 3.25 cr. Total: ₹ 44 cr. India biz.

— taran adarsh (@taran_adarsh) December 1, 2016

The film attracted speculations owing to the relatively few number of screens that the makers opted for despite the presence of a megastar, Shah Rukh Khan, in the film. It was a conscious decision on the part of the producers, including Khan, to exhibit the film in only 800 screens rather than the usual figure of 4,000 in a typical Khan-starrer. Since the film is a slice-of-life story with Khan only playing a supporting role, it turned out to be a wise decision to limit the reach to multiplexes, the preferred options of the classes, who were the target group of the film. Also, demonetisation failed to affect the box-office collections as the classes usually have access to non-cash payment modes. Thus, the film did not suffer the brunt of demonestisation unlike Rock On 2 which released two weeks ago, immediately after Prime Minister Narendra Modi put the move into effect. Dear Zindagi is gaining traction because of word-of-mouth buzz and is expected to maintain its pace only if it is not overthrown by the suspense thriller Kahaani 2, another heroine-oriented film starring Vidya Balan. The prequel Kahaani was loved by the audiences and word-of-mouth played a huge part in its rise at the box-office. However, given how the two genres are like chalk and cheese, both the films might co-exist peacefully and fare well at the box office in their respective capacities.