After months of no action (Stree 2 arrived during the Independence Day weekend), Diwali may light up the box office again.
Singham Again and Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 will release together on Friday, November 1.
Should the clash have been averted? The answer is a definite yes.
After all, when there are so many open weeks with zero action, it would have made sense to space them out.
But the makers of both films had their own reasons to stick to their stand.
Team Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 felt that since they had announced the release date first, they had the first right over the Diwali weekend.
Moreover, it's a family film that resonates well with the celebratory feel.
On the other hand, even though Singham Again moves from the Independence Day release date to Diwali, their reasoning is that the film has its principal characters based on the Ramayana and hence it makes sense to arrive on Diwali.
The trouble is that the screens and shows are still being divided between the two films. The advance booking has opened extremely late, that too in pockets, and now it has only three-four days to build momentum.
The good part is that both Singham Again and Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 are much anticipated.
Both are mass films, aimed at huge bulk of audiences.
In terms of the opening day, Rohit Shetty's film may take the lead since he has assembled a big star cast and each one will bring their own fanbase.
On the other hand, the Kartik Aaryan-starrer will entice an audience of its own, since, as a franchise, Bhool Bhulaiyaa has done quite well.
At the very least, Singham Again will collect Rs 35 crore (Rs 350 million) on its opening day while Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 will cross the Rs 25 crore (Rs 250 million) mark. Between the two films, a half century score is there for the taking and anything that comes over Rs 60 crore (Rs 600 million) would be an added bonus.
