The movie Brahmastra, which reunites Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt for the first time, was finally released in theatres on Friday. Despite being released on a non-holiday, the Ayan Mukerji movie had a roaring start, with sales in the range of 35–36 crore. This appears to surpass Ranbir’s greatest opening to date, Sanju, which brought in 34.75 crore on day one in 2018.
On the first day of its release in Hindi, Malayalam, Kannada, Tamil, and Telugu, the movie was expected to do well owing to strong advance booking numbers. Although Ranbir had previously stated that he couldn’t take the advance booking figures seriously because “till the audience doesn’t see the film, the game doesn’t begin.”
Brahmastra was the highest opening day ever for original Hindi content on a non-holiday, generating between 35 and 36 crore net, according to a report on Boxofficeindia.com. According to the estimate, the Hindi version will bring in between 32 and 33 crore net. Additionally, it suggested that during the weekend, there might be $8–10 million in overseas collections.
The greatest opening on a non-holiday was achieved by SS Rajamouli’s Bahubali: The Conclusion, which brought in 41 crores. With Hindi dubbing, it was simultaneously shot in Tamil and Telugu.
Since the start of advance booking, 11 crore rupees worth of Brahmastra tickets have been sold as of Wednesday night. These were recognised as the finest advance booking figures for any Bollywood film during the post-pandemic period.
Critics, however, had conflicting opinions and mixed reviews about Brahmastra. Most of them termed it as a visual treat while appreciating the VFX but pointed out the poor storyline, dialogues and screenplay. Now, how the audience perceives the cinematic experience of the ‘Astraverse’ and what reflects on the box-office in this weekend will determine the fate of this 410-crore film.