After months of struggling with poor business and footfalls, theatres on Friday welcomed two big Hindi releases – Singham Again and Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 – on the occasion of Diwali. The clash of two big titles, they being part of successful franchises as well as curiosity around the new releases, have ensured that they are off to a decent start.

According to trade analysts and exhibitors, Ajay Devgn’s Singham Again has opened at Rs 30-40 crore in box office collections on Friday. While Kartik Aaryan’s Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 has done a business of around Rs 25-27 crore on its first day. The movies have had a pan-India release across 10,000 screens, experts said.

“There was a strong buzz around the films. And the advanced bookings were also good,” Kunal Sawhey, COO, Cineline India, which runs the MovieMax chain of cinemas in Mumbai and other metros, said.

Who is Vasundhara, billionaire Pankaj Oswal’s daughter arrested in Uganda? A look at her career, lavish Rs 1649 crore house, family, and net worth

Afcons Infrastructure IPO 2024 Highlights: Check GMP, IPO allotment, listing, date and other details

Upstox targets to make retail trade more profitable: CEO

Sebi fines Edelweiss AMC, CEO & CIO Rs 16 lakh

While Singham Again saw advanced bookings of around Rs 16 crore, Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 saw advanced bookings of Rs 17 crore. An ensemble cast with a cameo by actor Salman Khan and daring action sequences have ensured that Singham Again has taken a lead over Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 on day one, experts said.

Exhibitors say that the two films could cumulatively rake in Rs 100-200 crore over the first weekend, which is good news at a time when the Indian box office has struggled through much of the 2024 calendar year as over-the-top entertainment gains prominence.

“Barring a few films, much of the 2024 calendar year has been a challenge for exhibitors. This was due to elections, heat waves and back-to-back cricket in the first half of the year. Producers also delayed big releases to the second half, in particular, the festive quarter,” says Amit Sharma, MD, Miraj Cinemas, which has 223 screens across 68 theatres in 50 cities within India, said.

Barring Shraddha Kapoor’s Stree 2, Tamil star Vijay’s The Greatest of All Time, Junior NTR’s Telugu hit Devara: Part 1 and Hollywood movie Deadpool & Wolverine, which surpassed the Rs 100-crore-mark in box office collections each in the September quarter, according to media firm Ormax, most other big releases this year including Alia Bhatt’s Jigra and Rajinikanth’s Vettaiyan have underperformed.

While theatre owners and chains have had to depend on re-releases through much of 2024 to get footfalls and business, that trend may reduce if new releases click at the box office, say experts.

Exhibitors say that almost 50-60 retro films could re-release in the next few months to strengthen the programming calendar of theatres. At the same time, chains are also awaiting the next big slate of blockbusters including Vicky-Kaushal-starrer Chaava and Pushpa 2, which are scheduled to hit theatres in December.