Unlike other holiday releases, like Diwali or Holi and even Christmas, Valentine’s Day isn’t really significant for Bollywood. But this year, the day of love did wonders for Zoya Akhtar’s Gully Boy . Despite its niche subject — Indian hip-hop — the film opened at an impressive ₹19.25 crore net. Comparatively, Ranveer Singh’s previous release, the big-ticket mass entertainer, Simmba opened at ₹20.76 crore net in December 2018. Though Gully Boy enjoyed an additional day in theatres with a Thursday release, trade analysts also think Cupid had something to do with it. “Valentine’s Day over the last four to five years has become a day to go watch films,” says Shailesh Kapoor of Ormax Media, a firm specialising in trade insights. While we haven’t had an official release themed around the holiday yet, it’s a time when most couples head to the cinemas for a special occasion. “ Gully Boy has benefited more because it’s targeted at the youth,” says Kapoor. “The benefit has been about 25 to 30% of tickets sales,” he estimates.
Success story
A day after its advantageous release, Singh’s film continued to rake in the money. Made on a reported budget of ₹70 crore, the film has now amassed ₹94 crore net from approximately 3,350 screens across the country. While the film has been performing well across India, tickets sales have been distinctly higher in Maharashtra (especially Mumbai and Pune). Also, with its budget, the state-wide earnings safely put Gully Boy in the league of Padmaavat or Simmba . “ Gully Boy is largely multiplex-skewed with (up to 90% of total collections),” says Kapoor adding that this phenomenon is the norm these days as very few films need single screens to perform well any more. “Even smaller towns have multiplexes these days.”
Gully Boy is predicted to make between ₹160 to ₹175 crore net at the end of its lifetime. It will be Akhtar’s most successful film after 2011’s Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara which earned ₹89.96 crore net (adjusted to ₹110.71 crore in 2019). It might even touch ₹200 crore net if the box office gods deem it worthy.
This week’s Total Dhamaal caters to a different audience altogether and is no real threat to the film. The reckoning for Akhtar’s film starts with the March 1 releases, Luka Chuppi and Sonchiriya . But that leaves two whole weeks for Gully Boy to sell plenty of tickets.
