"Rustom" is going rock-solid at the global box office, crushing "Mohenjo Daro" a little each day. While the Akshay Kumar-starrer has collected Rs. 68.23 crore nett at the domestic box office, Hrithik Roshan's epic-adventure film has made Rs. 40.90 crore nett across the Indian circuits.
Positive reviews and excellent word-of-mouth has helped "Rustom" grow and collect impressive money at the worldwide box-office, but "Mohenjo Daro" didn't quite click with the film critics and at the same time has failed to charm the audience.
An executive (on condition of anonymity) from a box-office chain told DNA that earlier they had a contract with UTV Motion Pictures (the production house backing "Mohenjo Daro") to screen a certain number of shows, but with the viewers loving Akshay's crime-thriller more, they have decided on replacing a few shows of "Mohenjo Daro" with "Rustom."
"It was a long weekend, and then there is Raksha Bandhan on August 18. So, Rustom will grow by default. But holiday or not, Mohenjo Daro has been rejected by the audience," the source further elaborated.
Meanwhile, trade analyst Amod Mehra is not impressed how the clash has panned out. Akshay and Hrithik may have handled the competition like grown-ups, but such clashes are never healthy for the industry.
"As expected Rustom had a good start and by the audience reactions is set to be a big hit. On the other hand, though the buzz was low for the Hrithik Roshan-starrer the trade was shocked by the unimpressive and dull start. As the word of mouth is bad it will struggle and thanks to the string of holidays manage a full week's run," Amod added.
A few other clashes coming up
Ajay Devgn's "Shivaay" is all set to lock horns with Karan Johar's "Ae Dil Hai Mushkil" on Oct. 28. On Jan. 26, 2017, there are chances that Hrithik's "Kaabil" and Shah Rukh Khan's "Raees" will collide. According to fresh reports, Akshay's next with Neeraj Pandey, titled "Crack," will be released on Aug. 11, 2017, same day as SRK-Anushka Sharma's upcoming film "The Ring."
