Will Aamir Khan’s Laal Singh Chaddha be the box of chocolates Bollywood is waiting for?

• Aamir Khan starrer Laal Singh Chaddha and Akshay Kumar’s Raksha Bandhan slated to release on 11 August.
  
• Laal Singh Chaddha garnered 54% more interest than Akshay Kumar’s Rakshabandhan, according to BookMyShow.
  
• Aamir Khan’s films reported a collection of ₹280 cr per film based on the average of his last three films.
  

Laal Singh Chaddha is the most anticipated Bollywood movie in 2022, according to Imdb ratings, followed by Akshay Kumar’s Raksha Bandhan. Both films are releasing on Thursday, during the long weekend of August pre-independence day.

Laal Singh Chaddha is being screened across over 350 screens of INOX Leisure, one of India’s biggest theater chains with 692 screens across 73 cities. It’s a remake of 1994 classic Tom Hanks movie Forrest Gump.

“We are expecting Laal Singh Chaddha to have one of the best post-pandemic openings. It may earn a minimum ₹18-20 crore (on opening day). The same ballpark figure goes for Akshay Kumar’s Raksha Bandhan,” Rajender Singh Jyala, chief programming head of INOX Leisure said.

Jyala also said that Bollywood is expected to buck up during the second quarter of 2022 with mega films like Laal Singh Chaddha, Raksha Bandhan, Vikram Vedha, Brahamastra, Pathaan and Ram Setu.

Bollywood and movie theaters alike have been waiting for a blockbuster, as most of the movies that have raked in the moolah this year are either South multilinguals or Hollywood movies.

However, the official site of BookMyShow revealed that 54% of the Indian audience is more interested in watching Laal Singh Chaddha as compared to Raksha Bandhan.

Even if it gets the opening as predicted by Inox, Aamir’s latest movie will fall short of the many superhits that he has delivered in the past.

“Aamir Khan’s films have reported a collection of ₹280 cr per film on the average of his last three films as a lead actor. Hence, if the above (opening day) estimate of Laal Singh Chadha is reported, it will be considered below par, given the scale of the film,” said Karan Taurani, senior VP and analyst at marketing firm Elara Capital.

This month, Ranbir Kapoor starrer Shamshera posted a dismal performance as it collected only ₹45 crore. Another recent release, Ek Villain reported a collection of ₹38 crore until yesterday, revealed Elara Capital.

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