Box Office: URI still high on ‘josh’ inching towards Rs 150 crore, Manikarnika and Thackeray have a decent start but expected to pick up speed

By Vandana Srivastawa

on January 25, 2019

Vicky Kaushal’s and Yami Gautam’s URI: The Surgical Strike is still keeping the cash registers ringing at the box office even in its second week. According to trade experts and the box office collection, the film is ‘high on josh’ and keeping the audience happy with its gripping story and action. It is poised to emerge the highest grossing mid-range film.

URI: The Surgical Strike is based on the surgical strikes that were carried out by the Indian armed forces in 2016 on Pakistan dominated Kashmir. The film is directed by Aditya Dhar and also stars Mohit Raina, Paresh Rawal and Kirti Kulhari in pivotal roles.

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[caption id="attachment_201681" align="aligncenter" width="647"] Success Party of Uri: The Surgical Strike[/caption]

URI: The Surgical Strike is expected to cross Rs 150 crores in the coming weekend and the way it’s roaring at the box office it looks like a small task for the film.

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On the other hand, Kangana Ranaut’s historical Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi that released today has received good reviews from most critics. However, some have panned the film as less on story and more on didactic speeches on nationalism. However, the film had an ordinary opening of 15-20% when it should have opened better with regards to the scale of the film. The mass markets of UP, MP, Rajasthan etc should have brought more moolah to the film.

[caption id="attachment_194995" align="aligncenter" width="647"] Stills from Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi[/caption]

The low collections could be because there is no bigger star than Kangana in the film and that might have proven detrimental for the film. The film will have to recover ground tomorrow as it’s a National Holiday. The opening was okay as compared to other heroine dominated films but with respects to the lavish budget on which the film is made it needs to pick up speed at the box office.

[caption id="attachment_199243" align="aligncenter" width="647"] Nawazuddin Siddiqui in a still from Thackeray[/caption]

The other big release of today was Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s Thackeray which is a biopic on late Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray. The film is written by Sanjay Raut and directed by Abhijeet Panse. It also stars Amrita Rao in the role of Meenatai Thackeray. The film had an equally low start of around 10% although the film is doing fairly well in Maharashtra where the bulk collections are expected to come from even though there is a Marathi version playing in the state. The film only has Maharashtra and the other neighbouring areas as its playing field.