Pihu and Mohalla Assi released this Friday with very limited buzz around both the films. With a marginal hype and limited screen count, both the movies failed to create much impact at the box office on day 1, but the makers of Pihu are likely to be happier.
Talking about Pihu, the thriller movie has been made at a very low budget, and also released on a selective number of screens. It is a film that does not have any star cast as such, and hence the cost of production is quite moderate.
However, with the trailer of the film impressing many, Pihu witnessed better occupancy in theatres than expected on day 1. The makers of the movie had adopted a unique promotional strategy of calling random people and making them hear a child's cry for help.
Although the team was criticised for such a bizarre act, it appears that the promotional stunt actually worked in favour of the film. Also, the positive reviews from critics favoured its business. The film mainly worked well at the multiplexes and picked up pace during the evening shows.
Although the numbers are nowhere huge, it is satisfying considering the minimal budget of Pihu, and it is likely to pick up pace over the weekend due to word of mouth. It collected Rs 45 lakh on first day at the domestic market. As a matter of fact, it almost recovered the cost of production, which is around Rs 50 lakh, on first day itself.
"#Pihu - an edge of the seat thriller revolving around just one character: a 2-year-old child trapped in an apartment alone - had a slow start on Day 1, but the positive word of mouth should help witness an upturn on Day 2 and Day 3... Fri ₹ 45 lakhs. India biz," trade analyst Taran Adarsh tweeted.
On the other side, Mohalla Assi which features prominent actors like Sunny Deol, Ravi Kisan, Sakshi Tanwar, Saurabh Shukla among others, received negative reviews from critics. Hence, the day 1 box office collection of the movie remained disappointing. It collected just Rs 30 lakh at the box office on day 1.
Nonetheless, if Pihu enjoys good word of mouth, it may witness good jump in its collection over the weekend.
