Mumbai: The Independence Day weekend is set for a major Bollywood box-office clash as Emraan Hashmi’s ‘Awarapan 2’ goes up against Sunny Deol’s ‘Batwara 1947’.
While both films have generated considerable buzz, early advance-booking trends suggest that Emraan’s much-awaited sequel has taken a clear lead and could emerge as the bigger opener.
‘Batwara 1947’ brings Sunny Deol and Rajkumar Santoshi together once again after two decades, with Aamir Khan serving as the film’s producer. The social drama also marks Preity Zinta’s return to the big screen after nearly a decade.
On the other hand, ‘Awarapan 2’ is the sequel to the 2007 cult hit and sees Emraan Hashmi reprise his popular role as Shivam Pandit. The film also stars Shabana Azmi, Disha Patani and Suvinder Vicky in key roles.
Both films have managed to secure a strong number of screens across India. Their advance bookings opened around 48 hours before release, but by Thursday afternoon, ‘Awarapan 2’ had established a comfortable lead.
According to Sacnilk, ‘Batwara 1947’ had sold around 30,000 tickets nationwide for day one, generating approximately ₹81 lakh in gross advance bookings.
In comparison, ‘Awarapan 2’ had sold more than 1 lakh tickets, collecting around ₹3.25 crore. This puts the sequel nearly four times ahead of ‘Batwara 1947’ in advance bookings.
However, ‘Batwara 1947’ could narrow the gap through stronger spot bookings on Friday, particularly given Sunny Deol’s strong theatrical pull.
Despite this, early trade estimates currently favour ‘Awarapan 2’ in the box-office clash.
The film is expected to open at around ₹20 crore net, while more conservative projections place its opening between ₹15 crore and ₹18 crore.
‘Batwara 1947’, meanwhile, is estimated to collect around ₹8 crore to ₹10 crore on its opening day, which would still be a respectable start considering the film’s sensitive subject matter.
Both ‘Awarapan 2’ and ‘Batwara 1947’ are expected to benefit from the extended Independence Day weekend, although their eventual performance will largely depend on audience reception.
As things stand, ‘Awarapan 2’ is projected to cross ₹100 crore worldwide during its opening weekend.
If it does, it would mark a remarkable turnaround for the franchise, with the sequel potentially earning nearly eight times the lifetime collection of its 2007 predecessor in just its first weekend.
