SAJJAN SINGH RANGROOT (Punjabi) which took a slow start has held up well from Monday to record business of 7.20 crore nett apprx all over India. The opening weekend was 4.20 crore nett apprx. So the film has added 70-75% on the weekdays as compared to the normal 50-55%.

There has been a change with taxes with GST coming into play since last July and in terms of GROSS figures SAJJAN SINGH RANGROOT has managed the sixth highest opening ever in India despite a weak start. The GROSS numbers are in same range as films like SUPER SINGH and AMBARSARIYA though less than the two SARDAARJI films which have the best openings ever.

The overseas business was better comparatively with around 6.75-7 crore gross coming. The film should continue its strong run in Overseas as its Easter Weekend while in India it also has the holiday advantage. The Worldwide gross of the film is 16 crore apprx in the first week which is decent especially from where it started.

The top first weeks across India for Punjabi films are as follows. All figures are GROSS collections due to change in taxes as NETT figures do not give the correct picture comparing with past films.
1. Sardaarji - 16.28 crore
2. Sardaarji 2 - 13.73 crore
3. Manjhe Bistre - 10.67 crore
4. Ambarsariya - 9.52 crore
5. Super Singh - 9.37 crore
6. Sajjan Singh Rangroot - 9.06 crore
7. Bambukat - 8.75 crore
8. Jatt And Julliet 2 - 8.41 crore
9. Angrez - 7.69 crore
10. Punjab 1984 - 6.94 crore

SAJJAN SINGH RANGROOT (Punjabi) has under performed in India at the box office as it grossed 4.25 crore nett apprx across India (3.48 crore nett East Punjab) over the weekend and  75 lakhs nett on Monday. The Monday hold is decent with a drop of just 35% but the problem is collections are on the lower side.

The Punjabi industry has taken a big hit with GST as earlier, Punjab was entertainment tax free for Punjabi films but now there is GST on collections. So the nett collections are lower than many films and keeps it outside the top ten but Gross collections takes it up into the 7th or 8th highest weekend. It is still an under performance as it should have been top 3 or 4 in terms of NETT and first in terms of GROSS.

The first four day collections of SAJJAN SINGH RANGROOT are as follows
Friday - 1,15,00,000 apprx
Saturday - 1,25,00,000 apprx
Sunday - 1,75,00,000 apprx
Monday - 75,00,000 apprx
TOTAL - 4,90,00,000 apprx

The film has scored Overseas with business of $900,000 in four days which is a good total for a Punjabi film. A dead market like United Kingdom grossed £85,000 apprx which is a big number for a Punjabi film. But that is because there is more relatable for the UK audience compared to the Indian audience who will know little about World War One.

HICHKI had a low first day of 3.25 crore nett but it has managed to collect better than most films which are in the similar zone over the past year or so. The collections of similar films last year are as follows
1. Begum Jaan - 3,64,00,000
2. Tumhari Sulu - 2,61,00,000
3. Mom - 2,56,00,000
4. Simran - 2,43,00,000
5. Meri Pyaari Bindu - 1,67,00,000
 
All the films had low occupancy on day one but that is always likely but HICHKI is second best of the lot. TUMHARI SULU was a minor success and HICHKI has a better opening day than that. The last Rani Mukherjee film MARDAANI had opened at 3.44 crore which is a similar range but that was at the time of entertainment tax. So in terms of gross collections they are much higher.

HICHKI should grow very well on Saturday as high end multiplexes have their best day then but the test will be on Monday and that it will tell if the film can have a run at the box office. The weekend is a bit irrelevant for these types as all it can give you a platform to stay in the race and the work starts from Monday. Here the platform is certain as the weekend will easily cross double digits and remains to be seen what happens on the weekdays. Cost wise the film is safe due to good revenue from non theatrical sources.

The Punjabi film SAJJAN SINGH RANGROOT was a so so affair. It grossed around 1.25 crore nett across India which is a fair number for a Punjabi film but not a film which has Diljit Dosanjh in the lead. The film had a World War One setting and promos lacked the entertainment factor and Punjab traditionally is an entertainment seeking circuit be it Punjabi or Hindi films. Some Hindi films get away with it as Gurgaon is there and that becomes 30-35% of the circuit for these but Punjabi films don't have this as Gurgaon is very limited for these films.

Like HICHKI has been able to put some sort number in East Punjab due to Gurgaon. Take Gurgaon out and the circuit is a dead for the film.