The film ‘Gangubai Kathiawadi’ has fallen flat at the box office on the first Monday of its release. It was expected that after doing decent business on the first weekend, the film will not allow much fall in its earnings on Monday as well. But, the initial trends of Monday’s box office collections have started showing that the film is not getting much support from those who have come out after watching the film. People are reaching to watch this film in the name of Sanjay Leela Bhansali, but while leaving, they are only praising Alia Bhatt. According to the information, the film has done a business of about seven and a half crores on Monday. It’s not even half of its Sunday collection.
Everyone was apprehensive about the real litmus test of the film ‘Gangubai Kathiawadi’ on Monday. If a new film is released with a decent star cast on the first three days of its release, then it means a lot of business is also done because those who watch the new film on weekends come to see this film. On Monday, when the office, market opens, people start to know from their friends how the film really went. This is called ‘word of mouth’ publicity in the language of the film. If it is positive, then the collection of the film increases day by day and if people do not appreciate the film, then the film starts faltering from Monday itself. Something similar seems to be happening with ‘Gangubai Kathiawadi’. With the film’s collection coming down to less than half on Monday compared to Sunday, it is natural to raise a wave of concern among the people associated with the film.
The total amount spent on making the film ‘Gangubai Kathiawadi’, due to its release being postponed repeatedly, and the total amount spent on the promotion and marketing of the film is said to be around Rs 180 crore. Half of this amount has been recovered from the film’s digital, satellite and music rights by its producers. For the remaining half to reach the producers, it has to earn at least three times the selling price of theatrical rights. Only 36 per cent of the total sales at the ticket window goes back to the filmmakers, with the rest going to those who play the film in theatres. The distribution rights of the film ‘Gangubai Kathiawadi’ in theaters are said to be sold for Rs 90 crore.
Director Sanjay Leela Bhansali started the film ‘Gangubai Kathiawadi’ in stubbornness. He was about to make a film ‘Inshallah’ with Salman Khan and Alia Bhatt but Salman Khan left the project due to some reasons just before the shooting started. It is said that Salman did not like the tone of Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s talk. His actors also keep talking to their close ones about Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s attitude. Ranveer Singh faced Bhansali’s anger after his look from the film ‘Bajirao Mastani’ was made public before the release of the film. However, Bhansali was the biggest hand in making Ranveer Singh’s career and the confluence of both is also seen in the next film ‘Baiju Bawra’.
Back to the film ‘Gangubai Kathiawadi’. The film on Friday performed better than the expectations of the film trade and took an opening of around Rs 10.5 crore, although considering the budget of the film, its opening should have been at least Rs 18 crore on normal days. According to the theaters open at 50 per cent capacity, this expectation was kept at Rs 9 crore for the film. The opening of the film, which takes out 10 percent of its cost on the first day of release, is considered spectacular. The film did its best on Saturday, earning around Rs 13.32 crore and the film’s collection reached Rs 15.30 crore on Sunday. The collection of hit films usually sees a decline of 20 to 25 percent on Monday as compared to Sunday. But, according to the initial figures, the box office collection of the film ‘Gangubai Kathiawadi’ on Monday is getting only Rs 7.25 crore. There may be a change in this till the final figures come, but the trends found late on Monday are not considered as a good sign for the film.