Box Office Collection: 'Holiday' Rock Steady; Will 'Humshakals' Affect its Business?

Action entertainer "Holiday – A Solider is Never Off Duty" is doing steady business at the Indian box office.

The Akshay Kumar-Sonakshi Sinha starrer is fast nearing the ₹100 crore mark in India. The film has minted ₹94.33 cr nett till Tuesday (17 June) and it is likely to enter the elite ₹100-crore club in a few days.

"#Holiday [Week 2] Fri 4.40 cr, Sat 6.34 cr, Sun 8.77 cr, Mon 3.18 cr, Tue 2.96 cr. Grand total: ₹ 94.33 cr nett. India biz. Rock-steady!," film critic and trade analyst Taran Adarsh tweeted.

The action drama is the third highest grosser of 2014 after "Jai Ho" (₹116 crore) and "2 States" (₹102.13 crore). It is soon expected to become the second highest grosser of the year by surpassing the collections of Arjun Kapoor-Alia Bhatt's romantic entertainer.

"Holiday" is expected to end its second week on a good note. However, it needs to be seen as to how the film will perform once multi starrer "Humshakals" hits the screens. The comedy entertainer, directed by Sajid Khan, has Saif Ali Khan, Ritesh Deshmukh and TV actor Ram Kapoor in triple roles. The film also has Tamannaah, Esha Gupta, Bipasha Basu and Satish Shah in prominent characters.

"Humshakals" will have a wide release on Friday, 20 June. The release of the film is likely to decrease the screen count for "Holiday", which will be successfully completing its 15-day run on Friday. The film's collections are expected to drop as the new release - "Humshakals" - will likely be the first choice of the public.

The film is carrying positive buzz and it is expected to take a good opening on the first day of its release. However, critics' reviews and audience feedback will play crucial roles in how the film performs at the box office. If "Humshakals" manages to impress the audience, the film is likely to earn good collections at the box office. On the other hand, if the film opens to poor response, its collections will drop and this might give "Holiday" a good chance to sustain its business in its third week as well.

Director Sajid is known for comedy capers like "Housefull, "Housefull 2" and "Hey Baby." Although these films have received mixed reviews from critics, they have managed to impress the audience and set the cash registers ringing. "Housefull 2" has even made it to the ₹100 crore club.

In 2013, Sajid remade 80s action entertainer "Himmatwala" with Ajay Devgn and Tamannaah Bhatia reprising Jitender and Sridevi's roles, respectively. The film was panned by critics and audience alike. It turned out to be a big box office failure.

More than a year after the release of "Himmatwala", the director is back with his new project – "Humshakals". The trailer of the comedy entertainer has promised "nine times the fun." One needs to wait and see if the multi starrer will be able to strike gold at the box office.