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There was a reason why Stree 2, Vedaa and Khel Khel Mein decided to arrive on Thursday.
The big Independence Day holiday is followed by a series of holidays, including the weekend and then another holiday on Monday for Rakshabandhan. The second weekend will be followed by the partial holiday of Janmashtami on Monday.
So when Pushpa 2 and Singham Returns changed their plans from the August 15 arrival, Stree 2, Khel Khel Mein and Vedaa locked the date.
While Stree had the sequel advantage, the other two were special since they marked yet another clash of Akshay Kumar and John Abraham on the Independence Day weekend after Gold and Satyameva Jayate and Mission Mangal and Batla House.
Still, the makers of Khel Khel Mein and Vedaa could not have imagined the kind of euphoria that Stree 2 would bring and in the end, emerge as the first choice of audiences.
The first issue came at the time of screen allocation itself. Then, by the time advance bookings opened, it was clear that the other two films would need to build their audiences over a period of time instead of doing first day wonders.
The makers of Stree has planned paid preview shows on Wednesday, perhaps just a show or show from 9:30 pm onwards. But going by the demand that started building up for the film, the shows increased, what with even three shows being allocated at most theatres.
So after a record-breaking start of Rs 8.50 crore (Rs 85 million) on Wednesday night, which broke the long standing paid previews record set by Chennai Express (Rs 6.75 crore/Rs 67.5 million) in 2013, Stree 2 went on to have a terrific Thursday with Rs 55.5 crore* (Rs 555 million*) more coming in.
Vedaa scored Rs 7 crore* (Rs 70 million) while Khel Khel Mein made Rs 5.50 crore* (Rs 55 million).
Though these are well made films, the numbers are low for the credentials that they carry and one waits to see how the collections move right until Monday.
*Estimates. Final numbers awaited.
Note: All collections as per various box office sources.
