Finally, Bollywood has its second Rs 200 crore (Rs 2 billion) hit of the year.
After back-to-back disasters with Laal Singh Chaddha, Shamshera and Raksha Bandhan not doing well, the box office situation had looked quite grim.
It had started seeming that audiences were just not in mood to step out of their homes to watch a film.
But that's not true any more.
In the 10 days, Brahmastra has emerged as a bonafide hit.
For that to happen, a lifetime collections in the range of Rs 240 crore-Rs 250 crore (Rs 2.4 billion to Rs 2.5 billion) was required, and the Ayan Mukerji directed film is set to reach there.
About Rs 35 crore (Rs 350 million) was required over the second weekend to register good numbers. But the film did even better and registered Rs 40 crore (Rs 400 million), resulting in an estimated Rs 213 crore (Rs 2.13 billion)*.
Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt now have a Rs 200 crore film to their name.
For Ranbir, this is his second double century after Sanju in 2018.
Alia had scored a double century, with S S Rajamouli's RRR. Among her Bollywood releases, Brahmastra is her first Rs 200 crore film.
For Karan Johar, Dharma Productions and Star Studios, the film's box office run has come as welcome relief since there was a lot invested in it for many years and while there would be good monetisation from OTT and satellite, the film needed to do very good business from its theatrical play as well, both in India and overseas.
The stage is set for Brahmastra to be built into a franchise and the announcement of Brahmastra Part 2: Dev has only solidified the intent.
*Estimates. Final numbers awaited
