Ustaad Bhagat Singh released at the box office with a massive bang, but the latest numbers show the film may now be struggling to maintain that momentum. Even though fans were eagerly waiting for the reunion of Pawan Kalyan and director Harish Shankar, data from industry tracker Sacnilk shows that the film’s earnings have dipped significantly after the opening weekend and the film just earned 1.75 crore on its first Tuesday.
How was the Monday ‘blues’ test for Ustaad Bhagat Singh?
The real challenge for the film began on Monday, which is usually the ‘make or break’ day for any big release. The collections crashed by nearly 74% compared to Sunday’s numbers. On its fifth day, the movie managed to collect only Rs 1.96 Crore.
The weekend slowdown
Even with such a strong start, the movie found it hard to stay at that level over the next few days. The collections for Ustaad Bhagat Singh started to drop on Friday to Rs 9.00 Crore, and Saturday stayed almost exactly the same at Rs 9.05 Crore. Usually, big star movies see a jump in ticket sales on Sunday, but the film actually saw a slight dip, earning Rs 7.50 Crore as theater occupancy fell to 32%. This lack of growth over the weekend was an early sign that the film might struggle on weekdays.
A record-breaking Thursday opening
The movie initially kicked off with a huge response from the audience. On its first day, Ustaad Bhagat Singh collected a massive Rs 34.75 Crore net in India. With over 4,600 shows across the country and an average occupancy of 69%, it was one of the biggest openings for a Telugu film in recent times.
Current status and total collections
As of Tuesday (Day 6), early tracking from Sacnilk shows the film has earned just Rs 0.04 Crore so far from about 611 shows, with occupancy sitting at 15%. This brings the total six-day India net collection to approximately Rs 62.30 crore.
While a total of over Rs 62 crore sounds like a lot, more than 55% of that money was made on the very first day alone. With theaters now reducing the number of shows and daily earnings falling below the Rs 2 crore mark, Ustaad Bhagat Singh has a difficult path ahead. The film will need a very strong second weekend to recover its costs and stay successful at the box office.