The Alia Bhatt and Sharvari-led spy thriller Alpha has defied industry expectations, securing a respectable opening weekend at the box office.
Key Points
- Alpha, a female-led spy film starring Alia Bhatt and Sharvari, defied low trade expectations by earning Rs 9.25 crore (Rs 92.5 million) on its opening day.
- The film achieved a respectable opening weekend collection of Rs 33 crore (Rs 330 million), showing growth on Saturday and Sunday.
- The film faces stiff competition from Welcome To The Jungle and the upcoming Dhamaal 4, requiring strong weekday holds to sustain its box office run.
With War 2‘s dismal fate, it appeared that the spy universe was doomed. Then came Dhurandhar‘s super-successful juggernaut at the box office and the first casualty was Alpha, as its release date was pushed from its original arrival on the Christmas weekend.
There was a call to reboot the franchise but it was too late since the film was ready. Still, there were some whispers that some parts of the Alia Bhatt-Sharvari film were reshot.
Defying Low Expectations
But once Dhurandhar: The Revenge arrived, Alpha suffered even more, and it was said that whenever it would release, it would be dead on arrival. That’s why trade expectations from the film went downhill and the spy universe, known for the likes of Salman Khan, Shah Rukh Khan and Hrithik Roshan delivering huge opening days, was now clutching at straws and aiming for at least a respectable opening.
It was a foregone conclusion that a double-digit opening day would not come for the Shiv Rawail directed film, so the best-case scenario was an opening day of around Rs 7 crore to Rs 8 crore (Rs 70 million to Rs 80 million).
Hence, when Rs 9.25 crore (Rs 92.5 million) came in, it was considered decent. It’s still far lesser than anything that one has seen from the franchise, especially since it got a wide release.
The film’s collections could have stayed flat during the weekend but audiences seemed interested in it, resulting in double-digit collections on Saturday and Sunday.
Alpha has scored a weekend of Rs 33 crore* (Rs 330 million), which is a decent number. But since it’s an expensive film, it has a long way to go.
With Welcome To The Jungle running alongside and Dhamaal 4 getting ready for release this Friday, Alpha would need to have a super strong hold over the weekdays to stay in the race in the second week too.
The Other Assassin Movie
The other release of the week Baby Do Die Do could not bring in the numbers.
The Huma Qureshi-starrer was not promoted well, and saw a staggered release across few shows at multiplexes. It could not cross even Rs 1 crore (Rs 10 million) on Friday, with collections at Rs 50 lakh. There was a slight growth over the weekend, with overall collections standing at Rs 2.25 crore (Rs 22.5 million).
*Estimates.
Note: All collections as per various box office sources.
Photographs curated by Satish Bodas/Rediff
