Neeraj Pandey’s ‘Aiyaary’ which released this Friday on February 16th, 2018 has opened to shockingly negative reviews from critics and did not receive a favourable opening on its first day of release. Considering the fact that director Neeraj Pandey is known to deliver back-to-back hits in the past, this film comes as a surprise with the filmmaker missing the mark.
The first day collections were a big let-down for distributors and exhibitors with the film taking an opening of Rs.3.35 crore at the box office. With the film being touted to do well at the ticket windows across metros and single screens, trade analysts were expecting an opening of Rs.6-7 crore on its first day. As per trade estimates, the Day 3 collections of ‘Aiyaary’ on Sunday stand at Rs.4.25 crore.
‘Aiyaary’ had a similar opening as Sidharth Malhotra’s previous two films ‘A Gentleman’ and ‘Ittefaq’ which were flops and had poor openings. The film has grossed a total box-office collection of Rs.11.6 crore with no growth seen in its collections since its first day.
The film is made on a total budget of Rs. 60 crores inclusive of prints and advertising cost with the cost of production being Rs. 45 crores. The film has released across 2150 screens worldwide with 1754 screens in India screening 6291 shows per day while overseas, the film has released across 396 screens in 39 countries.
‘Aiyaary’ focuses on an Indian Army officer who is compelled to chase down his protégé when the latter turns rogue and threatens to disrupt the country’s government and army. The film features a multi-star cast of Manoj Bajpayee, Sidharth Malhotra, Rakul Preet Singh, Naseeruddin Shah, Kumud Mishra, Anupan Kher, Pooja Chopra, Adil Hussain in lead and supporting roles and has been written and directed by Neeraj Pandey.
With Hollywood’s latest offering ‘Black Panther’ which is a big-budget Marvel superhero film opening extremely well across metros, ‘Aiyaary’ is set to face fierce competition at the box-office. The film is also facing a tough competition with previous week’s releases ‘Padmaavat’ and ‘Pad Man’ which are doing favourable business.
The producers have recovered Rs.30 crore of its production cost from satellite rights, digital rights, music rights and overseas screening of the film. The fate of ‘Aiyaary’ remains to be seen and will be considered a hit if it crosses Rs.70 crore.
