Film trade analysts now believe that there is a strong possibility of Kabir Singh to emerge as the highest grossing film of 2019, surpassing Uri’s lifetime business.
Bollywood, in the first two quarters of this calendar year, is matching the growth momentum of 2018, which is considered as the richest year for the Hindi film industry.
Shahid Kapoor’s Kabir Singh, that hit theatres on June 21, has minted over Rs 100 crore within five days of its release, becoming the seventh film so far to cruise past the Rs 100 crore target.
This is also going to be Kapoor’s first solo century. His last successful offering was Padmaavat, in which he was sharing screen space with Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone.
While 2018 has had the highest number of films crossing the Rs 100-crore mark with as many as 13 movies achieving the feat, it wouldn’t be a tall task for Bollywood to match up to the same target this year.
In 2017, there were nine films in the Rs 100-crore club, 2016 had seven such films, 2015 and 2013 six such films and in 2014 the count stood at eight.
Big-ticket films that earned over Rs 100 crore in 2019 include Salman Khan’s Bharat, that entered the club in four days; Akshay Kumar’s Kesari in seven days; Ranveer Singh’s Gully Boy in eight days, and multi-starrer Total Dhamaalin nine days.
Ajay Devgn’s De De Pyaar De is another film that entered the Rs 100 crore club this year.
With an estimated budget of Rs 60 crore, Kabir Singh’s success is as surprising for the film industry as the success of Uri: The Surgical Strike, that went on to rake in Rs 245 crore.
Film trade analysts now believe that there is a strong possibility of Kabir Singh to emerge as the highest grossing film of 2019, surpassing Uri’s lifetime business.
Running in over 3100 screens, Kabir Singh is witnessing a strong run in Tier II and III markets, which was unexpected from the film as it was considered to be more urban-centric.
The romantic drama is even seeing a repeat audience, which is further helping Kabir Singh trend even during weekdays. The film’s footfall wasn’t impaired after the weekend and daily revenue remained in the range of Rs 16-17 crore. Hence, the film is expected to earn over Rs 130 crore in its opening week.
The first two quarters of 2019 have emerged as big money churners, with the opening three months of the year getting as much as Rs 1,000 crore, a feat not achieved in the last few years.
While 2018 came close to the record with the first quarter total of Rs 914 crore, the previous two years fell short by a big margin. In 2017, Bollywood could gather Rs 650 crore and 2016 was even lower at Rs 550 crore.
Kabir Singh’s success will not only be a value addition to the overall business of the film industry, but it could also be a turnaround for Shahid Kapoor’s career, who single-handedly could carry very few successful ventures in the last few years.
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