The Abhay Deol, Diana Penty-starrer "Happy Bhag Jayegi" witnessed a steady growth in its collection at the Indian box office during its first weekend, although it received poor response on its opening day.
The film faced tough competition from Akshay Kumar's "Rustom," which refused to slow down even in its second week of run in theatres, and managed to collect only Rs. 2.32 crore on Friday. However, the positive word-of-mouth publicity helped to draw audience to the theatres on the following days. The film raked in Rs. 3.81 crore on Saturday at the domestic box office market.
"Happy Bhag Jayegi" has collected Rs.4.58 crore on Sunday at domestic box office. Its first weekend Indian box office collection now stands at about Rs. 10.71 crore net. Made on a budget of Rs. 18 crore, "Happy Bhag Jayegi" will likely struggle to recover its total production cost. Trade Analyst Taran Adarsh tweeted: "#HappyBhagJayegi Fri 2.32 cr, Sat 3.81 cr, Sun 4.58 cr. Total: ₹ 10.71 cr. India biz... Has to stay afloat on weekdays to leave a mark."
The Anand L. Rai production has a bumpy journey ahead. It will next face another big ticket film, "The Flying Jatt," starring Tiger Shroff and Jacqueline Fernandez, which is scheduled for release on Thursday, Aug.25. "A Flying Jatt" is expected to rule the box office in the upcoming week.
Although the overseas box office collection of "Happy Bhag Jayegi" is not out yet, the film's overseas business is likely to get affected since it has been banned in Pakistan.
Meanwhile "Happy Bhag Jayegi," which revolves around Diana aka Happy who flees from her marriage and accidentally reaches Lahore where she meets Abhay's character, has been hugely compared to Rai's earlier directorial venture, "Tanu Weds Manu Returns."
While the Kangana Ranaut-starrer shattered several box office records and emerged as one of the highest grossing films of 2015, "Happy Bhag Jayegi" didn't live up to the viewers' expectation, though it managed to keep them entertained with some humour.