When the promotional assets for The Vvaan: Force of the Forest dropped, initial trade tracking pointed squarely toward a lukewarm opening across urban multiplex belts.
The Sidharth Malhotra and Tamannaah Bhatia pairing had generated baseline curiosity, but industry consensus largely wrote off the fantasy thriller as another mid-budget release heading for a quiet theatrical fade.
Then, the narrative flipped.
As the campaign rolled out, a targeted, folk-devotional wave ignited across heartland WhatsApp groups and regional feeds, converting a muted Hindi release into a grassroots phenomenon (of sorts). By the time opening weekend collections came in, trade analysts were decoding an unexpected box-office surge, proving that while critical acclaim remains optional for commercial survival, Bihar’s explicit blessing is not.
Flipping the Narrative
"This is an unusually high performance for a film this size; it’s not a mega-budget release, and look at how it’s doing," veteran trade analyst Taran Adarsh told THR India.
Initially expected to be dead on arrival, The Vvaan has already minted over ₹46 crore according to the makers and will close its first week by hitting the ₹50 crore mark. The film is directed by Panchayat creator Deepak Kumar Mishra and produced by Ektaa R. Kapoor alongside TVF’s Arunabh Kumar.
According to Box Office India, The Vvaan registered a near ₹1 crore net opening in Bihar on Day 1, marking the fourth-biggest opening day in the circuit this year, trailing only Toxic, Dhurandhar 2, and Border 2.
According to a trade breakdown by Pinkvilla, The Vvaan’s numbers aren't merely confined within the state’s geographical borders. While the Bihar circuit alone delivered a blockbuster ₹3.75 crore over the opening weekend, pacing toward a lifetime run north of ₹10 crore, the spillover into non-traditional belts has been equally pronounced.
In Punjab, for instance, where the film registered negligible traction in centers like Amritsar or Patiala, industrial hubs like Ludhiana posted exceptional holds, driven almost entirely by the city’s sizeable Bihari diaspora.
It’s an observation that Bihar-based exhibitor Vishek Chauhan echoes on the ground. "Biharis are practically everywhere across the country now. So wherever you have a concentrated diaspora population — whether it’s industrial Punjab, Delhi NCR or Mumbai — that cultural trigger travels with them, and you see an immediate box-office surge."
The engine behind these outsized returns isn't a mystery. The four-day festival of Chhath Puja, celebrated prominently across Bihar, Jharkhand, and Eastern Uttar Pradesh, is a visual and narrative pillar in The Vvaan.
"I think it was a deliberate strategy by the makers," Chauhan, who runs Roopbani Cinema in Purnia, tells THR India. "All over Bihar, this narrative was strong. Chhathi Maiya, as a divine power, works... that's like Ganpati for Mumbai, Durga Puja for Bengal. That emotional nerve, they've hit very nicely."
Industry sources confirm that the film’s publicity machinery strategically bypassed routine press tours in favour of targeted local push across tier-2 and tier-3 Hindi belts. The campaign pushed the track 'Chhathi Maiya' heavily within the targeted demographic across Bihar and Jharkhand.
Then, there was also the iconic track ‘Pahile Pahil Hum Kaini’ sung by the late Sharda Sinha, widely venerated as the 'Voice of Chhath'.
"Twenty-five days ago, everyone started circulating the song 'Chhathi Maiya' on Facebook and WhatsApp. I started seeing posts from handles across the board making that Chhath Puja connection. The momentum started building from there," Chauhan adds.
That algorithmic nudge triggered an unprecedented wave on social media. Viral reels showed audience members applying sindoor to one another and distributing thekua (the traditional Chhath offering) mid-screening during the sequence. One reel alone garnered over 513,000 likes as packed halls of young moviegoers stood up chanting ‘Jai Chhathi Maiya’ in near-unison.
When Sinha’s son shared a throwback clip of his late mother recording the track on Instagram, writing that watching the nation "relive that magic on the big screen" was overwhelming, the emotional connection was sealed.
"If you segment social media by demographics, the mystery of why The Vvaan is performing so phenomenally well disappears," reveals a senior marketing source.
"Instagram is for a younger, urban audience that leans into aesthetic packaging. Facebook, on the other hand, is where older audiences and family networks actively engage and that’s precisely where the divine, faith-driven angle lands. The Vvaan locked in that specific demographic early. It may not have popped up on your personal feed, but the core target audience was already sold. The viral push simply poured gasoline on the fire."
By anchoring the narrative to a deeply revered emotional nerve, the campaign converted local reverence into immediate, steady footfalls.
Adarsh argues that Bihar's current performance exposes a structural blind spot in Hindi cinema's distribution strategy. "It's a very good market. It's just that we haven't been making the kind of films we should be making for them. When asked whether Bollywood should promote more aggressively in the state, he added, "Yes, definitely."
Chauhan says its best way to look The Vvaan as a national film that is "playing out like a very strong regional film". Normally, films like Chhaava (2025) or a Raja Shivaji (2026) do blockbuster business in Maharashtra and decent-to-good business in Bihar. But this was the other way round.
"From day one, during the 9 am morning shows, we had female audiences walking in. Women and families are driving this film in Bihar. We started with three shows on the weekend, and have now made it four," Chauhan added.
The grassroots noise from Bihar has already begun bleeding into metro multiplexes, driving curious walk-ins asking what the Internet commotion is about. However, The Vvaan faces its ultimate test this Friday when the highly anticipated Drishyam: The Conclusion hits screens nationwide. Will the blessing continue?