Box office: 'Bajirao Mastani' overshadows 'Dilwale'

In the opening weekend, 'Dilwale' was leading the box office race, ahead of 'Bajirao Mastani' by Rs 18.32 crore. But, just a week later, the margin has reduced by one-sixth

In the opening weekend, 'Dilwale' was leading the box office race, ahead of 'Bajirao Mastani' by Rs 18.32 crore. But, just a week later, the margin has reduced by one-sixth. Thanks to strong word-of-mouth publicity, Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s period drama has comfortably sailed past the Rs 100-crore mark, somewhat overshadowing the Shah Rukh Khan-starrer action comedy that has also broken into the coveted club.

A still from 'Bajirao Mastani'

Last week’s solo release, 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' hardly posed a challenge to the two holdover Hindi hits. The epic space opera’s latest instalment opened on Thursday afternoon and by Sunday, it had collected a little over Rs 10 crore. "Star Wars did excellent business, but the same can’t be said of its dubbed versions (Hindi, Tamil and Telugu)," says trade analyst Amod Mehra.

Talking of changing fortunes in the big Bollywood battle, he added, "Bajirao Mastani may have had a slow start, but last Monday onwards, its collections overtook Dilwale’s. It now seems set to cross the Rs 150-crore figure."

Trade expert Taran Adarsh explains the second weekend business of the two films declined in their second weekend — 'Dilwale' by 67.38 per cent and 'Bajirao Mastani' by 26.66 per cent. "Dilwale didn’t witness a major spurt in business despite holidays (Christmas followed by Saturday and Sunday). However, it is doing extremely well overseas," he says.

BO stats
Rs 10.02crore
'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' (opening weekend)

Rs 58.79crore
'Dilwale' (by second weekend; overall: Rs 123.88 crore)

Rs 73.68crore
'Bajirao Mastani' (by second weekend; overall: Rs 120.45 crore)

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