Kartik Aaryan starrer Bhool Bhulaiya 2 on day one of its release proved to a massive opener of 2022 setting aside Kangana Ranaut starrer Dhaakad. Kangana's film collected a mere Rs. 50 lakhs on its opening day, the industry was left stunned. The trailer promised an action thriller and attempted to bring something new to the table. However, the film could not prove itself at the box office.
Bhool Bhulaiya 2 starring Kartik Aaryan, Kiara Advani and Tabu generated tremendous excitement and was the first choice for moviegoers. As a result, Dhaakad’s poor opening was expected. The hope was that it’ll grow once the word of mouth would start trickling in.
According to Bollywood Hungama report, “There was absolutely no excitement among the audience to see Dhaakad. There were reports that there were a handful of viewers in the theatres on Day 1. Many shows across the country got cancelled due to no audience. On top of it, the word of mouth was terrible. Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2, meanwhile, has been enjoyed by the audience. As a result, it has grown from strength to strength while Dhaakad has got outright rejection from the audiences.”
The second day collections also continued to stay in the range of Rs. 50 lakhs.
The report further stated that Dhaakad had got a limited release in the single screens. On Saturday, several theatres removed it as it didn’t make sense to play the film with less than 10-15 audiences inside the large single screen theatres. Multiplexes too reduced the shows to some extent. From today (Sunday), there would be a heavy reduction as Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 has tremendous demand. Hence, its shows will be replaced with that of Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2.”
A three-screen multiplex owner, on the condition of anonymity, told the entertainment portal, “I am playing Dhaakad in 2 shows. For the Saturday evening show, only 2 tickets were sold, believe it or not! I’ll still play the film till Sunday. From Monday, I’ll have no choice but to remove it. Jab Saturday shaam ko 2 log aaye hai, toh Monday ko toh koi bhi nahin aayega.”
Manoj Desai, executive director, G7 multiplex and Maratha Mandir Cinema, told Bollywood Hungama, “There was hardly any audience for Dhaakad. We had to cancel a few shows due to no show by moviegoers. Hence, we decided to shift the film to Gemini. KGF - Chapter 2, which was playing in Gemini, was shifted to Galaxy, as it’s still getting an encouraging response from the moviegoers.”
Meanwhile, "Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2" has earned Rs 55.96 crore in three days, the makers said on Monday. "Bhool Bhulaiya 2" had an opening of Rs 14.11 crore, followed by an impressive Rs 18.34 crore on Saturday. The film's Sunday collection of Rs 23.51 crore took its opening weekend collection to Rs 55.96 crore.
The film's success has ended the dry spell at the Bollywood box office, which saw only two other Hindi films doing impressive business - Alia Bhatt's February release "Gangubai Kathiawadi" and "The Kashmir Files", which opened in March.
