Hindi
Dismal weekend at the Box Office
MUMBAI: The past weekend has proved to be dismal for the box office with three releases, which all vie for the worst performer tag. Khamoshiyan turns out to be a drab affair with the Bhatt touch visible only in its soundtrack. The film got poor word of mouth and managed to collect just Rs 5.75 crore in its opening weekend.
Rahashya may be based on a real life, well documented double murder case, but gets just about as much attention from moviegoers as yesterday’s headline. And, this story has become stale by all standards. The film opened to a very poor response with no hope of catching up despite being a well-made film. The film had a poor opening weekend with about Rs 20 lakh.
Hawaizaada, a biopic of a maverick self-styled scientist from Maharashtra, starring Ayushmann Khurrana, from which the trade had some hope, comes a cropper. The film comes across as badly scripted and directed one lacking consistency and having no sense of length. A boring fare, the film suffered further after being slaughtered by critics as well as on social media. The poor collections reflect this as the film could manage mere Rs 1.8 crore over its first weekend. It failed to touch Rs 1 crore figure on any of the three days over the weekend.
Baby has not lived up to the hype created in the media before release. The film had way too much similarity in story and substance with a couple of recent films but was worse than them. The film is too verbose with plans of action rather than action itself which is what people want to see from a spy movie. The film collected Rs 52.1 crore in its first week. With three very poor oppositions in second week, the film gets a chance to reduce its losses.
I (dubbed) has collected Rs 1.2 crore in its second week to take its two week total to 11.3 crore. On the other hand, Dolly Ki Doli is a loser facing rejection from day one. The film manages to end its first week with figures of Rs 11.9 crore. Alone adds Rs 2.25 crore in its second week to take its two week tally to Rs 19.5 crore.
PK nears the end of its run at the box office as the film adds Rs 1.3 crore in its sixth week to take its six week total to Rs 329.6 crore.
Hindi
UFO Cine Media Network unveils ‘India’s biggest cinema moment ever’
Dhurandhar 2 and Toxic tipped to deliver rare pan-India scale for brands
MUMBAI: UFO Cine Media Network is pitching an upcoming dual-film release weekend as what it calls the largest advertising opportunity cinema has offered in India, banking on an estimated 100 million cumulative footfalls nationwide.
The initiative, branded “India’s Biggest Cinema Moment Ever”, is anchored around the simultaneous release of Dhurandhar 2 – The Revenge and Toxic, two high-profile action films expected to dominate screens across regions and languages. Trade projections, supported by cinema measurement tool Procat, suggest the combined lifetime theatrical run could deliver one of the widest audience concentrations seen in recent years.
Dhurandhar 2 – The Revenge, an India–Pakistan spy thriller, is set to release in five languages, broadening its appeal across northern and southern markets. The franchise has already built a sizable multilingual following through theatrical runs and streaming platforms. Toxic, fronted by pan-India star Yash, is expected to draw heavy footfalls across southern circuits and beyond, buoyed by the actor’s proven box-office pull.
UFO, which operates an in-cinema advertising network spanning more than 4,100 theatres, is positioning the release window as a rare moment of synchronised national attention. Its footprint covers multiplexes and single screens across over 1,500 towns and cities, allowing advertisers to deploy campaigns at scale during a single weekend.
Executives at the company argue that cinema’s value lies not just in reach but in attention. Unlike digital or television, audiences are captive, emotionally engaged and free from distraction, they say, translating into stronger recall and measurable returns for brands. With advertisers increasingly focused on performance-led media planning, UFO is framing the dual release as comparable in scale to India’s largest broadcast and sporting properties.
Industry observers note that as theatrical exhibition expands deeper into Tier 2 and Tier 3 markets, such tentpole weekends are becoming anchor moments for annual media strategies. If Dhurandhar 2 – The Revenge and Toxic deliver as expected, the weekend could set new benchmarks not only for box office numbers, but also for cinema’s evolving role as a high-attention advertising medium.
