“Action Thriller Kill Makes Muted Box Office Debut Amid Kalki’s Record Breaking Run”
The much awaited action thriller film Kill, directed by Nikhil Nagesh Bhat and starring popular actors Lakshya and Raghav Juyal in lead roles, had a lackluster start at the box office on its opening day. According to industry reports, the Dharma Productions movie collected approximately Rs. 1.25 crores on its first Friday. While this collection is better than several other Bollywood films this year, it needs a boost over the weekend in order to have successful box office numbers.
At a time when many films are struggling, Kill released amid director Nag Ashwin’s mega blockbuster Kalki 2898 AD continuing its record shattering run. On the same day as Kill’s release, the Prabhas starrer earned around Rs. 17 crores, taking its total Indian collection to over Rs. 450 crores in just nine days. With such huge numbers, Kalki’s hold over theaters is making it difficult for newcomers to get shows and attract large audiences.
Kill achieved an overall occupancy of 12% on its first day, with morning shows starting slow at 6% and evening and night shows seeing higher footfalls but nothing exceptional. The film is an action packed thriller that tells the story of a train heist, inspired by director Nikhil Bhat’s own experiences as a student decades ago. With a talented cast and high production values, Kill was expected to put up better numbers. It now needs to pick up pace over the weekend to have a chance of staying in theaters.
Only time will tell if Kill can find momentum or become one of the many casualties at the box office this year. With an epic blockbuster refusing to leave cinemas, Lakshya and Raghav Juyal have an uphill task to turn their content driven film into a commercial success.
