Lights, Camera, Scoop: 'Sitaare Zameen Par' Collections, Ranveer Singh's 'Dhurandhar' Comeback, and Akshay Kumar's Franchise Woes

It has been an eventful week for the Hindi film industry, especially with the release of Sitaare Zameen Par. From being headlined at one point by Farhan Akhtar and Salman Khan, the Aamir Khan-led comedy hit the screens on June 20, with box-office figures that were both encouraging and concerning.

Leading up to the release, trade estimates for the RS Prasanna directorial were tracking a single-digit opening, which would have meant Khan's lowest Friday for a film headlined by him since Taare Zameen Par in 2007, which had netted around ₹2 crore.

However, despite a slow start, there was an upward trend in collections as the positive reception kicked in and the film exceeded projections, delivering now what looks like an opening day of ₹10 crore.

Purely from a numbers point of view, trade circles note that this is a win for Aamir the daring actor-producer, but not for Aamir the legacy superstar. Even with the same genre, Aamir's superstar status should have ideally helped the film give a stronger push for opening, and not reduce it to a "word of mouth" film, which picks up pace on Saturday.

Laal Singh Chadha, Aamir's previous release, had also opened at similar figures despite virtually no promotions, with a trailer that was trolled, and a clash with Akshay Kumar's Raksha Bandhan. There was a blitzkrieg promotional strategy for Sitaare Zameen Par, but none that directly helped the film get spotlight for big numbers on Friday.

"Ideally, a star like Aamir, who has been a leader of this genre, should have given a film like this a much bigger opening, so that it benefits from day one. From Saturday, a film's merit takes over anyway. So, the numbers of Sitaare Zanmeen Par have been dented," a trade source explains, adding, "But it is also undeniable that because it is a good Aamir Khan film, that Sitaare... will now get a bigger push on Saturday-Sunday, a high magnitude jump which wouldn't have come for other actors despite good word-of-mouth."

Sitaare Zameen Par is now set for a healthy weekend of over ₹45 to 50 crore, and where it lands in the lifetime collections will depend on how it trends on the weekdays.

Wait For Ranveer Singh

Those who have seen the rushes of Ranveer Singh's next, Dhurandhar, can't stop raving about it. Uri: The Surgical Strike helmer Aditya Dhar returns with his latest spy-espionage actioner set in the 1970s-1980s, which is said to be inspired by real-life events during the golden era of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), with Singh playing one of the officers.

While the teaser will reportedly be out on Singh's birthday, July 6, those close to the production say Dhurandhar is shaping up to be one of the "coolest" action-espionage films in Bollywood, with high stakes and style. Slickly mounted with a charismatic cast, which includes Sanjay Dutt, Akshaye Khanna, Arjun Rampal, and R Madhavan, the production of the film is underway in full swing.

This will be the much-awaited return of Singh, who, except for Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani (2023), has had three under-performers post-pandemic with 83 (2021), Jayeshbhai Jordaar (2022) and Cirkus (2022).

Akshay Kumar's Franchise Woes

Of all the misfires of Akshay Kumar post-pandemic, the two films (out of a dozen releases) which emerged as bonafide hits were Sooryavanshi (2021) from Rohit Shetty's cop universe and OMG 2 (2023). Naturally, the signal was clear: Do more franchises that people love. Kumar changed gears and readied a lineup of Kesari Chapter 2, Housefull 5, Jolly LLB 3, Welcome to the Jungle and Hera Pheri 3.

But there is a problem.

Though well received, Kesari Chapter 2 was reportedly mounted on a budget of over ₹100 crore (with some estimating it to be around ₹140 crore), effectively burdening it at the box-office. So, even when the acclaimed Karan Johar-backed period drama netted over ₹90 crores, a fair number and better than most Kumar films, the trade dubbed it as a decent success, but not a roaring hit as its 2019 original.

Housefull 5, after a smashing opening weekend, started to dip and, as Box Office India stated, will have to punch in higher numbers now if it doesn't want to settle for an "average" grosser tag. The fate rests on this week, when it battles with Sitaare Zanmeen Par.

Welcome to the Jungle and Hera Pheri 3, both have run into troubles as well, with reports of the former in financial crisis and some actors even quitting the film, while the latter is looking at a huge roadblock after Paresh Rawal walked out of the project with no immediate solution in sight. The future of both franchises is now undecided.

Which leaves Kumar with just one franchise now to seek acclaim as well as bonafide box-office glory: Jolly LLB 3. The Subhash Kapoor directorial will feature Kumar, who played Jolly in the sequel, as well as Arshad Warsi, who played the titular part in the original. Based on a real story, the third instalment of the legal comedy drama is getting readied for a September release and Kumar would hope that it turns out to be a game-changer for him, just as industry insiders are predicting it to be.