Promotional posters for Brahmastra outside the Hillstar Digital Cinema (left) and Fun Cinemas Playbox (Right) on September 8. (Morung Photos)
Hillstar and Fun Cinemas to release the movie
Morung Express News
With most Hindi films, including ‘bankable’ stars like Aamir Khan and Akshay Kumar, biting the dust at box office and Bollywood looking at one of its worst year so far, all eyes are on Ayan Mukerji's Brahmāstra, releasing on September 9.
Envisaged to be 3-part film franchise, the Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt starrer is described by IMDb as the “story of Shiva who sets out in search of love and self-discovery. During his journey, he has to face many evil forces that threaten our existence.”
The filmmaker of Brahmāstra touted is as “story of ancient Indian astras comes alive on the big screens!” The ‘Astraverse’ – a combination of 7 Astras or “supernatural weapon invoked by mantras”
Apart from Ranbir and Alia, Brahmāstra stars Amitabh Bachchan and Amitabh Bachchan, among others, with rumoured guest appearance of some other prominent stars.
Combining VFX and mythological elements, the film is projected to be visual delight and is the one of the most expensive Indian films with many reports putting the estimated figure at Rs 410 crore.
According to various reports, Brahmāstra scheduled to be played on 8000 screens worldwide, the most screens ever for an Indian movie.
K Madhavan, Country Manager & President Disney Star reportedly revealed during a promotional event for the film in Hyderabad on September 2 that it will be released in 5000 screen in India and 3000 worldwide. The advance booking for the Brahmāstra opened on the same day.
In Dimapur, both the Hillstar Digital Cinema and Fun Cinemas Playbox will be screening the film all day from Friday.
Upbeat advance booking
Meanwhile, the opening of advance booking for Brahmāstra also saw the re-emergence of the agenda driven #BoycottBollywood and #BoycottBramhashtra trends.
Such trends are becoming prominent in recent past, with many attributing to having some impact on box office fate of a concerned movie due to negative publicity.
However, the advance booking trend for Brahmāstra has been positive so far.
Bollywood Hungama, a Bollywood entertainment website, citing “latest trade reports flowing” in the morning of September 8, put the advance booking at 11 crores gross for Hindi version (excluding blocked seats) and Rs 11.70 crores gross so far for others versions.
In total, the film has hit the mark of 3.5 lakh tickets in the advance sale and the number is really huge and is the best for Bollywood in the post-pandemic era, it noted.
Looking at the numbers, it estimated that Brahmāstra is confirmed to take a start of at least Rs 20 crore for Hindi version and the figure of Rs 25 crores might get locked with one day to go, excluding spot bookings.
Brahmāstra remains on “course for a Record advance for original Hindi films as it could be the first original Hindi film to cross the 30 crore nett mark in terms of advance,” another Indian film website, Box Office India reported on Thursday.
“In the national multiplex chains it is the second highest ever behind KGF 2 and ahead of Bahubali - The Conclusion with a day to go,” it added.
Film trade analyst Taran Adarsh citing Inox cinemas ‘official statement’ informed on Wednesday evening that Brahmastra has clocked over 1.25 lakh for the first weekend and forecasted “big start at the box office.”
The expectation for a big hit for people involved in the filmmaking as well as industry watchers is understandably palpable.
In 2022, Bollywood has seen only couple of profitable movie such as Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2, The Kashmir Files and Gangubai Kathiawad, while most releases were designated as disaster in India including Aamir Khan’s Laal Singh Chaddha, and Akshay Kumar’s Raksha Bandhan, Prithviraj and Bachchan Pandey.
In fact, it was the dubbed films that rule the roost in 2022, with movies from South India such as RRR and KGF 2, designated as ‘All Time Blockbuster’ while Hollywood fares such as Doctor Strange 2, Jurassic World 3, Thor 4 and The Batman were declared as hit or super hit.
