Katti Batti has a shaky start

Negative reviews from critics and feeble word of mouth affected the film's occupancy on the first day

Kangana Ranaut and Imran Khan’s romantic film Katti Batti started its box office campaign with Rs 5.3 crore on the opening Friday (September 18). The much anticipated film opened to low occupancy in the first half, which improved slightly the day wore on. The opening day collection comes as a bit of a disappointment for the film considering the marketing might employed by the producers.

Apart from the marketing, Ranaut’s presence as the female lead had also led to a lot of anticipation, considering the model-turned-actor is on a career high after hits like Queen and Tanu Weds Manu Returns.  Analysts believe that the film has suffered on two counts — below average reviews by critiques and the occasion of Ganpati Visarjan in Maharashtra.

The film is expected to perform better over the weekend, though analysts are not sure about the performance, given the discouraging word-of-mouth Katti Batti has generated. In the overseas market, the film is estimated to cross the half million mark on day 1 with a cumulative Box Office collection of $503, 000.

The estimated box office in North America is $78, 000. In the Gulf, the film collected $300, 000 and Pakistan reported a box office collection of $46, 000. In the UK, the film has made $48, 000 according to initial reports, with some screens yet to report.

The film has been made at approximately Rs 30 crore, which means it must make Rs 60 crore and more for the producers to generate profits. Katti Batti is co-produced by UTV Motion Pictures and Emmay Entertainment and is directed by Nikhil Advani.