ABCD 2 registers this year's biggest box-office opening

The film was released in 2,000 screens across India, 500-700 of them 3D. This is the largest 3D release in India

Disney India has started its campaign at the box office this year with a bang. ABCD 2, its first release of the year, has seen the biggest opening of 2015. The film, directed by choreographer Remo D’Souza, collected Rs 14.3 crore on June 19, beating films such as Gabbar is Back (Akshay Kumar in the lead role), Baby (also Kumar) and Dil Dhadakne Do (Anil Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra and Farhan Akhtar).

Analysts had expected a Rs 10-12 crore opening for ABCD 2. The film, starring Varun Dhawan, Shraddha Kapoor and Prabhudeva, was released in 2,000 screens across the country, 500-700 of them 3D. This is the largest 3D release in India so far.

Suniel Wadhwa, independent distributor and box office analyst, says, “ABCD 2, the sequel to 2012’s ABCD, outperformed on its opening day, with a Rs 14.25-crore net box office. While it was expected to have a good opening, it has surpassed the estimate by seeing the best opening day of 2015, beating Gabbar is Back. This is commendable, as there was heavy rain in most parts of Mumbai and it was the first day of Ramzan.

“The film has performed well universally and a large part of the credit goes to the director and lead performances. It was released in both formats — 2D and 3D — and it seems the 3D performance has contributed as much as half to the total collections. Things look rosy for the weekend, as the target audience age group of 20-25 and the family audience has given a thumbs up, which could catapult the opening weekend to a Rs 45-50-crore net box office,” he adds.

Analysts say the film has performed well due to a strong marketing push by the studio, as well as the novelty of a dance-based film in Bollywood. Also, the presence of Dhawan and Kapoor, both somewhat fresh, has lent an element of curiosity to the film. The innovation of having a 3D version has also helped. “While the audience in metros has been exposed to films such as Step Up, which are dance-based and in 3D, there is a large audience for whom this is a novelty. Therefore, markets such as Jaipur, Pune, Ahmedabad, Surat, Noida and Lucknow have seen houseful shows on Friday,” says an analyst.

Apart from positive word of mouth, the film is also likely to benefit from a clear run at theatres through the next couple of weeks. While films such as Tanu Weds Manu Returns and Piku, which took the box office by storm with their content and word of mouth, have more or less completed their run, recent releases such as Humari Adhuri Kahaani and Dil Dhadakne Do don’t have a very strong grip on theatres. Also, there is no major release scheduled for the coming Friday.

A conservative bet is the film is likely to record a lifetime business of Rs 80-90 crore in the domestic market. It opened with $140,000 (about Rs 90 lakh) of collections in North America and the Thursday-Friday collection in the Gulf region stood at $310,000 (Rs 1.97 crore).

The film’s brand associations are valued at Rs 20 crore, while its music rights have been monetised at Rs 10 crore. Satellite rights are expected to add another Rs 20-odd crore to its kitty. Considering the film has been made for Rs 55 crore, profitability is assured.