BATWARA 1947 has taken a slow start due to various reasons with the main reason being one which actually you don't want to really talk about but the way it is today, its pretty much in your face. In a secular industry, its pretty much been known since years that the lead hero being a Muslim character is not the best way to go and that's why the lead would generally be Shankar, Ajay, Vijay Ravi etc. There will be exceptions as some Muslim socials did huge business but it was not the norm. Even when the biggest star of the country, Amitabh Bachchan, played a Muslim lead in COOLIE (1983) that film matched a previous blockbuster like KRANTI (1981) everywhere except Punjab and Haryana where the business was 50% of the latter. It does not take Einstein to figure out why.

Today the scenario is known by the whole industry and its pretty certain this mistake will not be repeated in a big film until there is an actual change in the country. The film also does not have the initial elements like action and music. So, it becomes about word of mouth but limited to gentry crowd as the Hindi belts are not likely to come on board. The plus is the film has got a good release due to the clout of Aamir Khan Productions and PVR Inox despite the stronger competition but does it have the merits to take benefit of that. Time will tell.

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BATWARA 1947 had a slow start and it did not really make up much ground either as it collected 5 crore nett apprx on the first day. There is a huge holiday on Saturday. Hence, it will jump but as the the first day is low, its a must to at least double up from here and get a Saturday and Sunday with double digit collections.

The trailer of the film did not offer much as it looked a slow paced film with a lack of action and no music either to attract the audience. Sunny Deol was not in the BORDER element or even JAAT. So, basically it became a word of mouth film relying on the emotional content of the film. The film has done a little better in Delhi/UP and Rajasthan but East Punjab could have been better considering its a partition based film.

There was also the competition of AWARAPAN 2 but even if you take that out, its unlikely this would have opened much better as simply there is a only a limited audience which is going to go to watch this sort of film on the first day. Its about the reports for a film like this and even then its about the older audience in the bigger centres which means a very limited audience.

Independence Day falling on Saturday also means its not the best holiday weekend as this film would have jumped on Saturday anyway. For a film like AWARAPAN 2, it does not matter much as it opened but this film could have done with the holiday falling on Friday. It would have meant a larger audience sampling the film.

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BATWARA 1947 saw huge growth on its second as it collected a decent 12 crore nett which is a huge jump coming from the 5 crore nett on the first day. But there was a good chance this would happen but the tougher part is Sunday and whether the film can hold up in double digits. The reports and all that may be fine but the problem is a limited audience and its tough for the film to collect at these levels.

It got the benefit of Independence Day on Saturday but on Sunday, the film will face an issue with the evening and night collections which will make it tougher to get into double digits. The total business of the film in two days is 17 crore nett which is not good enough considering the size of the film.

The two day collections of the film are as follows.

Friday - 5,00,00,000 apprx

Saturday - 12,00,00,000 apprx

TOTAL - 17,00,00,000 apprx

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BATWARA 1947 had a poor first weekend as it grossed 23.50 crore nett. There was the jump in business on Saturday due to Independence Day but even with that 140% jump, it was not really good enough and it was just about a decent Saturday when business needed to be good. Basically despite the huge growth, it still needed more.

The film got into double digits on Saturday but after the low opening the task was always going to be to remain there on Sunday and it fell well short as collections dropped heavily on Sunday. The film lacks mass appeal and that is why collections have dropped so much on Sunday. It has a limited audience and would have got a lot of its Sunday audience on Saturday due to the holiday.

A Sunny Deol film today has to be front footed with mass appeal and this was the opposite. Also the content of the film may have good intentions and the way religion is dealt with compared with other films. Sadly box office results in recent past show there is not much space for this at the moment and films like these have to take that cinematic liberty and go a certain way. Muslim character main leads have been few and far between in the 100 plus years of Hindi cinema and today it is probably the worst period to attempt this. The results here means its pretty certain this will not be happening for some time.

The weekend collections of BATWARA 1947 are as follows.

Friday - 5,00,00,000 apprx

Saturday - 12,00,00,000 apprx

Sunday - 6,50,00,000 apprx

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BATWARA 1947 had a huge fall on Monday which was coming but you would not have thought to this extent. The film is a huge flop and such a result makes it clear you cant go against the prevailing sentiment across most of the country. This sentiment can change at some point and maybe it can be said this will be for the better which can allow these type of films to be made. But at the present, its the ANTI sentiment that works. BATWARA 1947 is probably heading for a 29 crore nett first week and not much thereafter.

The collections of BATWARA 1947 are as follows.

Friday - 5,00,00,000 apprx

Saturday - 12,00,00,000 apprx

Sunday - 6,50,00,000 apprx

Monday - 1,50,00,000 apprx

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BATWARA 1947 collected 2 crore nett on Tuesday which was a healthy gain from the previous day but it hardly matters as the weekend figures were just not good enough and Monday just rubber stamped its fate. The losses will be huge and the film does not have a digital deal also as yet. At least, that was the scenario at the time of release.

The collections of BATWARA 1947 are as follows.

Friday - 5,00,00,000 apprx

Saturday - 12,00,00,000 apprx

Sunday - 6,50,00,000 apprx

Monday - 1,50,00,000 apprx

Tuesday - 2,00,00,000 apprx

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BATWARA 1947 had a horrible first week as it collected around 29 crore nett with the last day of the week not even doing 1 crore nett. The capitulation post the Saturday, when it got some sampling, means its more than just good or bad film. This sort of capitulation does not even come with those action films which are soulless like BAAGHI 4 or ATTACK.

This film will not be soulless and will have drama and emotions and the trend normally for these when they don't work is low weekday collections which are stable. Here, the weekdays are crashing like nine pins and worse than a bad action film. The industry would have pretty much worked out what has gone wrong here to have such bad collections and no one will attempt this type of film until there is a change signs of change with the audience and there will be at some point but when no one knows. At the moment, films like THE TAJ STORY do 20 crore and THE KERALA STORY 2: GOES BEYOND does 45 crore. You can call them Anti or propaganda films but they are getting in an audience far above their worth.

Here, BATWARA 1947 is far bigger film and far superior in terms of cinema, but will be taking middle ground on the divides and hatred, will be calling it a day at around 35 crore nett.

The first week collections of BATWARA 1947 are as follows.

Friday - 5,00,00,000 apprx

Saturday - 12,00,00,000 apprx

Sunday - 6,50,00,000 apprx

Monday - 1,50,00,000 apprx

Tuesday - 2,00,00,000 apprx

Wednesday - 1,00,00,000 apprx

Thursday - 75,00,000 apprx