'Gadar 2' heads towards Rs 300-cr mark; 'Jailer' gives it a run for money

NEW DELHI: 'Gadar 2' continues its winning run in the box office, accumulating a gross earning of Rs 270.20 crore (net: Rs 228.98 crore) since its release on August 11.

And if you add up its worldwide collections, it is within nudging distance of Rs 300 crore (it's sitting pretty at Rs 298.20 crore). The blockbuster made it highest day-wise net earning (Rs 55.4 crore) on August 15.

Very close on its heels (in India) is the Rajinikanth-starrer Tamil hit movie 'Jailer', its net collection (that is, minus GST, which is 18 per cent on movies) being Rs 210.65 crore since its August 10 release.

Buoyed by Thalaiva's huge overseas fan following, the film's worldwide earnings have been pegged by the trade media at Rs 392.20 crore, significantly more than those of 'Gadar 2'.

In comparison, the worldwide collection of the critically acclaimed 'OMG 2', although it has been the best for an Akshay Kumar-led film in the last two years, has yet to touch Rs 100 crore -- it's still hanging at Rs 99.30 crore with its India gross collection hovering around Rs 85.3 crore (net: 72.27 crore).

Compared with these heavy hitters, Chiranjeevi's 'Bhola Shankar' has to be content with a worldwide figure of Rs 39 crore, with India theatres contributing Rs 33.4 crore (net: Rs 28.35 crore).

Analysing the 'Gadar 2' phenomenon for IANS, trade analyst and Senior Vice President, Elara Capital, Karan Taurani said: "The film has seen a big impact in the North, particularly in the Tier 2 and Tier 3 markets, which have seen a huge uptick."

The film, starring Sunny Deol and his heroine from the original 'Gadar', Ameesha Patel, has been logging average occupancies of over 80 per cent across the country from Bengaluru to Delhi-NCR, where it has clocked a whopping 95.75 per cent occupancy.

For a film reportedly made with a budget of Rs 75 crore, it is literally an instance of cash registers ringing overtime -- and how!

Taurani expects the footfalls to taper off now that the Independence Day fervour (and holiday) is behind us, but the trade is upbeat about 'Gadar 2' making it to the Rs 500-crore club.

The big question that is looming on the trade's mind is this: Will 'Gadar 2' beat the record of its 2001 predecessor, 'Gadar: Ek Prem Katha', which stood up to competition from 'Lagaan' and made Rs 111.73 crore (worldwide gross collection) at that time, according to Bollywood Hungama. And this figure is not inflation adjusted.