With Rajkumar Gupta's Ghanchakkar not faring well at the box office, all eyes were on Ranveer Singh and Sonakshi Sinha's Lootera and Sanjay Dutt's Policegiri. While both films had high stakes riding on them, Lootera has managed to rake in around Rs 15 crore over the weekend. Dutt's cop caper that he wrapped up just before surrendering to the court pulled in Rs 10 crore.
Distributor Sunny Khanna says, `Lootera started with a poor opening and first day numbers were not impressive. The film marginally picked up over the weekend. The first day net collection was around Rs 4.15 crore and Saturday stood at Rs 5.20 crore while on Sunday, the film collected around Rs 6 crore bringing the total to Rs 15.35 crore.
According to the trade, Policegiri did reasonably well in single screens but did not fare well in multiplexes. The film apparently suffered due to lesser shows in multiplexes. The Sanjay Dutt-starrer collected Rs 3.30 crore on Friday, Rs 3 crore on Saturday and Rs 4 crore on Sunday. The total now stands at Rs 10.30 crore.
Exhibitor and distributor Akshaye Rathi says, `Policegiri is a hardcore mass entertainer with all the elements that go into a commercial potboiler. But the lack of a lead star whose current standing can allow a huge draw at the box office has kept it from making a strong impact. On the brighter side, Sanjay Dutt fans in B and C-centres got to enjoy watching him.`
Rathi adds that while Lootera's collections may not seem like it's hit the box office like a hurricane, but considering the fact that it's not a hardcore commercial entertainer, the numbers are more or less fair.
`The collections have grown steadily by the day over the weekend and the word of mouth seems to be positive in general. Here's hoping that it sustains well through the week ahead and takes a steady run over time,` he adds.
Exhibitor Girish Wankhede says, `Lootera's average occupancy was 55 per cent over the weekend, which is good but it was below expectations for us. Whoever saw the film loved it, but there weren't many people inside the theatre. Policegiri had an average occupancy of 45 per cent over the weekend.`
