Box Office: Mrs Chatterjee Vs Norway Joins Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar, Over 25 Crores Come This Weekend

Box Office Update: The weekend gone by saw a little over 25 crores come in as by and large the theatrical business was on the lower side across 4000 odd screens where Hindi films were playing. There is a capacity of at least 40 crores that's available on a day-to-day basis so to have 25 crores across 3 days is pretty less.

That said, there were two films that did manage to bring on some moolah and that ensured that the exhibition circle stayed on in circulation - Mrs. Chatterjee vs Norway and Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar. The Rani Mukherji starrer is in fact playing at the least amount of screens, only around 500, and hence it's good to see that it did manage to bring in over 6.50 crores.

Of course, the actress herself has seen bigger numbers coming for her films, what with her last release Mardaani 2 bringing on 18.15 crores over its first weekend back in 2019. However that film was a far more commercial film and also second in the franchise that was being set. In comparison, Mrs. Chatterjee vs Norway is a realistic take on a true story that had made headlines around 10 years back and hence the reach is restricted as well. Moreover, with this genre of films is immediately classified as an OTT release and hence the theatrical business that has come in so far is not bad at all, especially when it has grown from 1.27 crores on the first day to 6.50 crores* over the weekend.

Now it would all boil down to the kind of stability that the film demonstrates from Monday onwards. As long as the collections stay over the 1 crore mark right from Monday to Thursday, it would be good enough for the film as then it can make the most of the open week that lied ahead of it till the arrival of Ajay Devgn's Bholaa on 30th March.

Meanwhile, Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar saw the best collections for a Hindi film over the weekend gone by and that too when it's in the second week. Of course, it has a far more reach too and then has also found patronage amongst the target audience i.e. youth at the key urban centers. The film ended up bringing in over 15 crores* more in the second weekend, though honestly it would have been much better had around 18-20 crores more come in. That said, given the kind of fate that most films have suffered in last so many months, this is still good.

The Luv Ranjan directed film has now entered the 100 Crore Club and is only the second such films this year with Pathaan ahead of its leaps and bounds with a score of over 540 crores. To think of it, there is no other film between Pathaan and Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar for more than 7 weeks now which shows how dull the box office scenario has been for quite some time. That further makes the Ranbir Kapoor and Shraddha Kapoor starrer an important affair as it has kept the box office in circulation to some extent at least with 108.50 crores* been collected so far.

There were two more Hindi releases over the weekend gone by, the dubbed version of Kannada biggie Kabzaa and offbeat film Zwigato. Former actually saw a very widespread release for itself with over 1600 screens (primarily in the interiors) showcasing it. However, the collections were certainly far lesser than what would have expected out of the Upendra starrer, what with only 1.50 crores* been accumulated over the weekend.

On the other hand Zwigato did see quite some critical acclaim coming for it and also some good appreciation for Kapil Sharma who has been seen in an entirely new avtar. The film has a very niche appeal to it and one has to give it to Applause Entertainment for bringing it to theatres when otherwise such genre of films are immediately tagged as festival cinema and then released straight on the OTT. The Nandita Das directed film was given a respectable release after some good promotion and marketing, and the collections currently stand at 1.75 crores*.

*Estimates. Final numbers awaited

Note: All collections as per production and distribution sources