Exclusive Bollywood Box Office Report: Hit The First Case, Shabaash Mithu, Ladki, Tamasha Live Are Lacklustre

It's another lacklustre week at the box office. Out of 24 odd releases across the country, the prominent in Mumbai were Rajkumar Rao starrer Hit: The First Case, Taapsee Pannu sports drama Shabaash Mithu, Ram Gopal Varma's Indo-Chinese co-production Ladki: Dragon Girl, Vikram Bhatt's Judaa Hoke Bhi, and an ambitious Marathi film, Tamasha Live, directed by Sanjay Jadhav.

Sadly, not a single film could make a mark and set the box office ringing. It's the continuation of one disaster after another and this week also the industry submits to the disappointing chain of dismal collections of films such as Jersey, Badhai Do, Bachchhan Pandey, Anek, Jayeshbhai Jordaar, Runway 34 and Heropanti 2.

In his exclusive column with Filmibeat, trade expert Girish Wankhede takes a look at the box office collections of Hit: The First Case and Shabaash Mithu and other films that released on July 15, in their first week. He also analyses the films and their marketing and promotions.

Hit: The First Case

Hit: The First Case is the remake of the 2020 Telugu hit of the same name and is directed by Dr Sailesh Kolanu, who had helmed the original. It features Rajkummar Rao and Sanya Malhotra and revolves around a cop who is tracing a missing woman.

For the Hindi version of Hit: The First Case, the poster design was unimaginative and the visibility quotient was uninspiring. Except some billboards, not much was seen in the print and digital space. The positioning and marketing lacked vision and it showed on its opening day when, in fact, there was no 'opening'.

Hit: The First Case opened at the box office with disappointing figures of Rs 1.35 crore, and didn't show any considerable jump on the first Saturday and Sunday. The first Monday generated Rs 92 lakh only, which was the result of poor reviews and almost negligible word of mouth.

Shabaash Mithu

Similarly, Shabaash Mithu lacked excitement. It showed some spark with innovative PR peg when it gathered Mumbai journalists to play cricket with Taapsee Pannu and Indian women's cricket captain Mithali Raj, on whose life the film is based.

Portraying a woman cricketer who led India in ODI (one-day international) and Test matches was a brilliant choice of Taapsee in her filmography, but the character was and is not a popular figure to make audiences run with excitement to the cinemas.

The film also had the briefest marketing and promotional plan, with not even your neighbours knowing if such a film is happening. Without any buzz and recall value, Shabaash Mithu opened with disappointing numbers of Rs 40 lakh, which increased to Rs 55 lakh on the first Saturday and Rs 75 lakh on the first Sunday. By the first Monday, the film was steaming out with just Rs 21 lakh at the box office.

Judaa Hoke Bhi

Vikram Bhatt's supernatural-horror film Judaa Hoke Bhi looked like a single from an obscure album and has no brand recall. It naturally sank at box office without a trace.

Ladki: Dragon Girl

Ram Gopal Varma's Ladki: Dragon Girl tried to generate hype by simultaneously releasing it in China in around 40,000 screens, but the film lacked quality and a face. It was also released in India in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam along with its Hindi version but failed miserably at the Indian box office with unmentionable numbers.

Tamasha Live

Marathi film Tamasha Live, which dealt with yellow journalism and political power dynamics, generated Rs 30 lakh its opening Friday, Rs 25 lakh on the first Saturday and Rs 45 lakh on Sunday, making it another flop for director Sanjay Jadhav after Guru and Tu Hi Re.

From the earlier week carry-ons, only Hollywood superhero import Thor: Love and Thunder is stable in theatres, while Khuda Haafiz: Chapter 2 - Agni Pariksha and Rocketry: The Nambi Effect are struggling, and Jugjugg Jeeyo is fading out, dramatically.

The last week's two tentpole releases, Hit: The First Case, made with a budget of Rs 35 crore, and Shabaash Mithu, made with Rs 30 crore, won't be able to recover their cost from the box office for sure.

Edited by Shweta Parande.