Chhapaak has made an average collection at the Indian box office on the first day. The outburst against Deepika Padukone for showing her solidarity with the JNU students' protest appears to have affected its business to some extent.
Chhapaak had a massive hype and curiosity for two reasons. Firstly, the film is based on the life of an acid attack survivor named Laxmi Agarwal. Secondly, glamorous queen Deepika Padukone took the challenge to play the role of a girl, whose face is deglammed once for all. The makers had a clear idea about its audience. Hence, they booked 1,700 screens and almost all of them were multiplexes.
Deepika's JNU visit
Everything was going in the right direction that its producer thought until two days before its release. The positive vibe was getting it good advance booking. All hell broke down when Deepika Padukone showed herself at the JNU students' protest headed by Kanhaiya Kumar and Aishe Ghosh in Delhi on Tuesday night. Minutes after her visit, the unwanted negativity started erasing smartly built positivity.
The hashtag #BoycottChhapaak started trending with many people heading to cancel their advance-booked tickets. Many called Deepika Padukone an anti-national for standing with Kanhaiya Kumar. Adding to the woes of Chhapaak was Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior, which also hit the screens on the same date of its release. The biopic of Tanaji Malusare, the military leader of Shivaji's Maratha Empire, became an alternate option for the nationalist and patriotic sentiments in the country.
Trade expert smelled the effect, when Chhapaak opened to low occupancy in morning shows on Friday, but hoped it would show jump in the later shows. Sumit Kadel tweeted, "#TanhajiTheUnsungWarriror opened with approx 30% occupancy in morning shows, Maharashtra belt opened with 60-65% occupancy. Overall FANTASTIC opening. #Tanhaji #Chhapaak has a slow start, opened with 10-12% occupancy."
Chhapaak has collected Rs 4.77 crore net at the Indian box office on the first day. The trade analysts feel that its business is 40 percent lower than the expected mark. Sumit Kadel tweeted, "#Chhapaak Friday- ₹ 4.50-4.80 cr nett. Film was supposed to take an opening of minimum 7-8 cr nett but lost substantial business on day-1 because nationalist chose to boycott the film over her #JNU promotional stunt."
Chhapaak has a strong word of mouth, which is expected to boost its collection over the weekend and save it from bombing at the box office. Taran Adarsh tweeted, "#Chhapaak is ordinary on Day 1... Collects well at select high-end multiplexes... Biz at Tier-2 and 3 cities and also mass circuits is way below the mark... Growth on Day 2 and 3 crucial for a respectable weekend total... Fri ₹ 4.77 cr. #India biz."
