Bachchhan Paandey, which marked Akshay Kumar’s return to the big screen after Sooryavanshi – a movie that reignited theatres during the film industry’s most difficult period ergo straight after restrictions were relaxed post the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, it looks like the superstar won’t be able to recreate the same magic of the Rohit Shetty directorial at the box office with his new theatrical release, which has Kiti Sanon, Arshad Warsi, Jacqueline Fernandez and Pankaj Tripathi for company.
After getting off to a promising start of ₹13.25 crore nett – higher than what most trade expectations pegged it at, given The Kashmir Files storm rocking the box office – it now looks like Bachchhan Paandey ushered in a false dawn as the first cracks borne from Directory Vivek Agnihotri‘s juggernaut have already begun showing from day 2 onward. The Akshay Kumar starrer saw a drop of around 10% on Saturday for a hail of ₹12 crore nett on Saturday, taking its 2-day total to ₹25.25 crore nett, at least 10 crore short of where it should’ve been, considering that its a major festive release, made on a substantial budget, headlined by a major superstar, and featuring an A-list supporting cast.
Check out the day-wise box office collection of Bachchhan Paandey below:
Day 1 (Friday): ₹13.25 crore nett
Day 1 (Saturday): ₹12 crore nett
Total (9 days): ₹25.25 crore nett
The critical reception for Bachchhan Paandey has also been quite a mixed affair. Giving the movie 3 stars out of 5, BollywoodLife wrote in its review: “Bachchhan Paandey is a paisa-vasool treat for Akshay Kumar fans as the actor is in full ‘Rowdy Rathore‘ mode, going no-holds-barred with his swag while also subtly reminding us what a fine actor he is with his diction and body language. Kriti Sanon, Arshad Warsi, Pankaj Tripathi and the rest of the cast also have a blast, but the movie itself isn’t as much of a Holi blast as the trailer had promised, especially for neutral viewers, with the second half taking a clear dip from a seriously good first half. The good news is though it retains the essence of the Tamil original, Jigarthanda, while doing more than enough to forge its own identity.”
Bachchhan Paandey, directed by Farhad Samji and produced by Sajid Nadiadwala, needs a big jump on Sundaym day 3, if it has any hope of even breaking even.
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