Varun Dhawan's latest release October has opened to rave reviews from all quarters, and the film is likely to perform well at the box office as well. However, it didn't have a huge first-day collection like Varun Dhawan's other films.
Unlike Varun's movies, October is an unconventional love story with a sad undertone. The film lacks commercial elements, and hence it's not fair to expect it to run like his previous films. Moreover, the screen count is also very less for October.
However, October managed to make a decent first day collection at the Indian box office. The film collected Rs 5.04 crore net at the domestic market on day 1.
"#October has a slow start... Biz will have to witness miraculous growth over the weekend + maintain a strong trend on weekdays to leave a mark... Word of mouth is extremely mixed... Fri ₹ 5.04 cr. India biz [sic]," trade analyst Taran Adarsh tweeted.
Although the reviews are positive, the less number of screens is one of the major reasons for the comparatively average box office start. It has been released in just 1,683 screens across India. Moreover, the hype around October was also not much.
It's a completely performance-oriented film, and might not attract typical Bollywood moviegoers. With limited screen count, the film also has a limited set of audience. The weekend collection is likely to be higher than the opening day business, but one can't expect it to be anything massive.
Varun's last release Judwaa 2 had an excellent box office opening with over Rs 16 crore earning at the Indian box office. Although Varun is getting a lot of applause for his performance in the film, October is less likely to make a huge impact at the box office, mainly due to the limited screen count.
Directed by Shoojit Sircar, the movie features debutant Banita Sandhu as the female lead, who is also being praised for her performance.