Last week's releases Madgaon Express and Swatantrya Veer Savarkar were quite distinctive in nature.
While the former is a whacky comedy, the latter is a biopic.
But both cater to multiplex audiences.
Coincidentally, both also have a strong Maharashtrian flavour.
Both films did fair business over the extended four-day weekend, with Monday being a holiday due to the Holi festival.
Madgaon Express brought in Rs 1.63 crore (Rs 16.3 million) on the opening day while Swatantrya Veer Savarkar started at Rs 1.10 crore (Rs 11 million).
Neither films were rejected by the audience, something that has happened with so many recent mid-budget films.
As a result, Kunal Kemmu's debut directorial fetched close to Rs 10 crore (Rs 100 million) in the first four days. The BOGO (Buy One Get One) offer helped, as also the reduced ticket prices of Rs 150.
Swatantrya Veer Savarkar, which marks Randeep Hooda's directorial debut, did not have any BOGO offer, but still managed to collect Rs 8.35 crore* (Rs 83.5 million) so far.
Both films have merits and need to do better business. Pre-pandemic, such films usually earned around Rs 40 crore (Rs 400 million). For now, they should reach Rs 20 crore (Rs 200 million), and hopefully more, if positive word-of-mouth spreads faster.
*Estimates. Final numbers awaited.
Note: All collections as per production and distribution sources.
