The Kartik Aaryan, Kiara Advani-starrer horror comedy mints Rs11 crore nett on its second Saturday taking its box office total to Rs107 crore nett thus far. Ayushmann Khurrana’s Anek bags just Rs.3.75 crore nett in two days.

By Our Correspondent

Kabhi khushi, kabhi gham (Sometimes there is joy, sometimes there is sorrow). Such is life and so how can box office be any different. Production giant T-Series is currently experiencing such emotions.

Let’s get over with the sorrow first. The T-series and Anubhav Sinha co-produced Anek [2022] has simply failed to get going at the box office. Panned by critics, the political thriller that stars Ayushmann Khurrana, has only bagged Rs3.75 crore nett in its opening two days, as reported by BoxOfficeIndia.com. The film opened to Rs1.75 crore nett and only added Rs2 crore nett on Saturday. Made at an estimated budget of Rs35 crore, Anek was released across 1200 screens in India. Just like the preceding week’s release Dhaakad [2022], Anek, too, has seen very little business resulting into exhibitors cancelling few shows.

Let’s now move to the joy part where T-Series’ horror comedy Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 [2022] continues to grow strong at the box office. With new releases disappointing, the Anees Bazmee directorial minted Rs11 crore nett on its second Saturday, thereby taking its total to Rs107 crore nett so far. The film is looking good to reach the Rs150 crore mark. If it does so, Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 will become the highest grossing film in Kartik Aaryan’s career. Actually, Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 has already surpassed Aaryan’s previous best Sonu Ke Titu Ke Sweety [2018] that had made a domestic lifetime business of Rs100.80 crore net. It will be a maiden ₹150 crore film for Aaryan.

Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 is made at an estimated budget of Rs80 crore plus with the T-series film getting 3200 screens in India alone. The cancelled shows of Dhaakad [2022] and maybe now Anek [2022] is likely to see exhibitors increase few shows of Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2.

Meanwhile, Hollywood film Top Gun: Maverick [2022] had a fairly decent outing bagging Rs9 crore nett [that includes paid previews). The Tom Cruise-starrer bagged Rs2.25 crore nett through paid previews, and it opened to public on 27 May bagging Rs2.50 crore nett. The Saturday collection jumped to Rs4.25 crore nett, taking its box office collection thus far to Rs9 crore nett.

Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 and other releases will have another week to do its business with three major releases lined up on 3 June. Bollywood sees Akshay Kumar’s epic Samrat Prithviraj [2022], then there is the bilingual film Major [2022] – shot in Telugu and Hindi, and the big ticket Tamil film Vikram: Hitlist that stars veteran actor Kamal Haasan along with popular stars Vijay Sethupathi and Fahadh Faasil.