Anushka Sharma's scary avatar in Pari has impressed viewers and critics. But while we expected the opening-day collection of the film to cross Rs 5 crore because of the Holi holiday, it couldn't earn that much.
The movie, Pari, earned Rs 4.21 crore on its first day. However, we believe the positive word of mouth will increase the number of footfalls during the weekend.
After NH10 and Phillauri, this is the third movie of Anushka under her production house Clean Slate Films. The actress has tried her hand at a supernatural thriller for the first time. She may have played a ghost in Phillauri, but it was a happy film.
Pari has impressed viewers because of Anushka and other actors' performances and the storyline. The only disappointing part of the movie is its climax.
International Business Times India too watched the first-day-first-show, and our review said: "A well-made horror-thriller film. It is scary and will spook you till the end. Worth a watch! All the performances are phenomenal."
The supernatural thriller also features Bengali actor Parambrata Chatterjee, Rajat Kapoor and Ritabhari Chakraborty in pivotal roles.
The film released on 1,565 screens worldwide — 1,400 in India and 165 abroad. The opening collection of Pari is not extremely disappointing because the makers have not promoted the movie to its fullest.
The minimum promotion might be one of the reasons why it didn't attract too many viewers. Also, it was Holi. Although it is a holiday, people might have been busy celebrating the festival.
Pari is expected to see some growth on Saturday and Sunday as no big movies were released with the Anushka-starrer.
With rave reviews coming in from critics as well as audience across markets, the distributors and exhibitors are extremely upbeat about good growth in business on Day 2 and 3, riding on positive word of mouth soon.
Co-producer Arjun N Kapoor of KriArj Entertainment said, "In many places outside Mumbai where theatres did not shut totally, they still opened only after 3 pm. But the word of mouth is so good that Saturday and Sunday will prove to be good days for this Anushka starrer. However, states like West Bengal where people celebrated Holi yesterday, have registered extremely good collections on Day 1 itself."
Sanjay Chatar, leading distributor for Central India, said, "Major cinema halls in MP and Chattisgarh areas don't play movies on the Holi day in the morning; if they begin operations they start off only at 6 pm. Rajasthan began only after 4 pm. So the film's business in these crucial territories will only emerge over the weekend."
"The film has gotten 80 percent occupancy in Pune and Thane territories, where Holi is not celebrated widely. But then again, there are places like Nizam, Mysore and others down South that are reeling under a theatre strike. Over the weekend, as the theatre strike wraps up, the film is expected to display strong business," said a trade source.
