Brahmastra brings bad luck to Indian cinema operators, PVR and Inox investors lose $100 mn in a jiffy

Starring Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt in central characters, Brahmastra was set to open big in Indian theatres. The makers had high expectations from the lavishly mounted film and were confident that the fantasy adventure drama would end Hindi cinema’s dry spell at the ticket window. But looks like it is going to worsen the situation for the already stressed industry.

Directed by Ayan Mukerji, Brahmastra: Part One – Shiva is taking down investors of PVR and Inox with itself. These are the same theatre chains that claimed a record-breaking pre-booking of tickets for the film. However, with early reviews criticizing the film for having just flash and no fire, India’s largest theater chains PVR and Inox cumulatively lost over ₹800 crore ($100 million approx) in market capitalization on Friday, the same day when the film entered theatres across India, and some key markets overseas.

Brahmastra, which was in production for several years, is produced on a monumental budget of ₹410 crores ($50 million approx). But if trade experts are to be believed, the film is not going to rake in more than ₹150-200 ($25-$30 million approx) crores, which is half of the total cost splurged on its production.

A media note by Elara Capital says, “The lifetime box office for the film is estimated to be in a wide range of ₹130-200 crore ($22-$30 million approx), based on the strong advances. This analysis was made before the tepid response the film received from critics.

Panning the film, noted film critic and trade analyst Taran Adarsh called the film a ‘king-sized disappointment’. Brahmāstra is a king-sized disappointment… High on VFX, low on content (second half nosedives) … Brahmāstra could’ve been a game changer, but, alas, it’s a missed opportunity… All gloss, no soul.”

However, Karan Taurani of Elara Capital is hopeful that a positive world-of-mouth can change the film’s fate to some extent. “We believe a positive word of mouth and audience acceptance can help the film breach the upper end,” he concluded.

In addition to Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt, Brahmastra: Part One – Shiva also stars Amitabh Bachchan and Mouni Roy in important roles, and Shah Rukh Khan and Nagarjuna in important cameos.

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