Mumbai: Akshay Kumar’s latest release ‘Bhooth Bangla’ made a solid start at the box office, collecting over Rs 12 crore on the first day and signalling a promising run ahead.
According to Sacnilk, ‘Bhooth Bangla’ has collected Rs 8.61 crore so far, with around 1.3 lakh tickets sold. The film had already garnered Rs 3.32 crore in gross domestic advance bookings for Day 1.
Additionally, the horror comedy saw a strong response during its paid previews on Thursday, earning Rs 3.50 crore net.
Thus, the film’s total gross in India stands at Rs 14.36 crore, while the net collection has reached Rs 12.11 crore so far.
In the horror-comedy genre, ‘Bhooth Bangla’ faces stiff competition in terms of opening-day records.
Films like ‘Stree 2’ (Rs 55 crore) and Thamma (Rs 24 crore), both backed by Maddock Films, lead the list, followed by ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3’ (Rs 35 crore).
Directed by Priyadarshan, the film marks his reunion with Akshay after successful collaborations such as ‘Hera Pheri’, ‘Garam Masala’, ‘Bhagam Bhag’, ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa’, ‘De Dana Dan’ and ‘Khatta Meetha’.
The film also stars Wamiqa Gabbi, Tabu, Rajpal Yadav, and Jisshu Sengupta in key roles.
It is presented by Balaji Motion Pictures, a division of Balaji Telefilms Ltd, in association with Cape of Good Films, and produced by Akshay, Shobha Kapoor, and Ektaa R Kapoor.
Earlier, Priyadarshan had dismissed reports suggesting that a song in ‘Bhooth Bangla’ borrowed lines from a track featured in ‘Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne’, directed by Satyajit Ray.
“The lyricist has written those (words), and that is why we were so confident. There’s nothing wrong in it because our film is Bhooth Bangla. You should also understand there is another film called Bhoot Bangla before, which is with Mehmood and R D Burman. So naturally, that title is repeated now. These things get repeated. Of course, as I’ve already told you, I respect Satyajit Ray like god of Indian cinema,” he said.
A part of the HT review of the film read: “With the story being something we have seen variations of in the past, it really comes down to how much you laugh and how scared you get. The first half of Bhooth Bangla is as nostalgic as it gets. All the familiar Priyadarshan shots are here. In fact, the locations are pretty much the same as Bhool Bhulaiyaa, including the Chomu Palace. Divakar Mani’s cinematography captures the rustic locations beautifully. Add to that the top-notch VFX, which I am happy to report serves the film really well.”
