'Dil Dhadakne Do' has smooth sailing, mints Rs.37.05 crore

Filmmaker Zoya Akhtar's family drama "Dil Dhadakne Do" has not only received rave reviews from critics and the film fraternity, who have called it a "must watch", but has also managed to live up to the expectations of viewers.

The multi-starrer film, which released on Friday, collected Rs.10.53 crore on its opening day on June 5 and went on to witness good growth on Saturday and Sunday by minting Rs.12.27 crore and Rs.14.25 crore, taking its first weekend total to Rs.37.05 crore, according to a statement.

"Dil Dhadakne Do", which features Farhan Akhtar, Anil Kapoor, Ranveer Singh, Anushka Sharma, Priyanka Chopra and Shefali Shah, talks about a dysfunctional Punjabi family and how they discover love and friendship during a cruise across the Mediterranean.

"The film cruises along a premise of an urban rich family and their idiosyncrasies. With some lighter moments and breezy performance from ensemble star cast, the film managed to garner Rs.35 odd crore over the weekend," Devang Sampat, business head- strategy, Cinepolis, told IANS.

"Catering to a universe of urban Indians, the film fell short on numbers, on ground of lower acceptance in tier-II and tier-III markets and the length of the film which keeps losing pace in between. 'Dil Dhadakne Do', with respect to occupancy, was unmatched with 'Tanu Weds Manu Returns' in metros," Sampat added.

According to trade analyst Komal Nahta, "Dil Dhadakne Do" will receive better response from "multiplex and city audience".

"Mixed opening for #DilDhadakneDo Premium multiplexes record 70-90% collections in morning shows (excellent) while other cinemas, 15-30% (dull)," Nahta tweeted.

While "Dil Dhadakne Do" has managed to tug at the hearstrings of viewers, Kangana Ranaut and R. Madhavan-starrer "Tanu Weds Manu Returns", which released on May 22, has still managed to draw viewers to theatres, continuing its victory march in the third consecutive week since hitting theatres.

The film minted Rs.12.28 crore in its third weekend, thus taking its grand total to Rs.129.01 crore, says trade analyst Taran Adarsh.

Apart from Ranbir Kapoor's "Bombay Velvet", which couldn't live up to the expectations of viewers, in the past few weeks the film industry has managed to fascinate moviebuffs with content-driven films like "Piku", "Tanu Weds Manu Returns" and "Dil Dhadakne Do".

As far as the future of the box office is concerned, "Dil Dhadakne Do" will face tough competition from Emraan Hashmi, Vidya Balan and Rajkumar Rao's "Hamari Adhuri Kahani", which will release on Friday. It will be followed by Varun Dhawan and Shraddha Kapoor-starrer "ABCD 2", which is set to hit theatres on June 19.