Vivek Agnihotri’s gut-wrenching movie ‘The Kashmir Files’ is steadily inching closer to becoming one of the biggest blockbuster movies of recent times. Despite the presence of big releases such as Alia Bhatt’s Gangubai Kathiawadi in theatres, the Anupam Kher-Mithun Chakraborty starrer continues to outperform, eating into their share of the market.
According to film analyst and critic Taran Adarsh, the critically acclaimed film has broken records held by previous Bollywood blockbusters pre- and post-pandemic. On March 17, Thursday, the film analyst took to Twitter to compare The Kashmir Files’ performance on Day 6 to that of other post and pre Covid releases.
Day 6 [Wednesday] Biz: TOP SCORERS [post pandemic times]…
— taran adarsh (@taran_adarsh) March 17, 2022
1. #TheKashmirFiles: ₹ 19.05 cr
2. #Sooryavanshi: ₹ 9.55 cr
3. #GangubaiKathiawadi: ₹ 6.21 cr
4. #83TheFilm: ₹ 5.67 cr#Hindi films. #India biz.
Note:#Tanhaji: ₹ 16.72 cr#Uri: ₹ 7.73 cr
[Pre-#Covid times] pic.twitter.com/rHryfgyZiJ
As per the data shared by Taran Adarsh, The Kashmir Files has surpassed the Akshay Kumar starrer Sooryavanshi, which had collected Rs 9.55 cr, to become the highest first Wednesday grosser among post-pandemic releases, with a staggering Rs 19.05 cr.
Aside from Sooryavanshi, The Kashmir Files outperformed other releases such as Alia Bhatt’s Gangubai Kathiawadi, which earned Rs 6.21 crore, and Ranveer Singh’s 83, which earned Rs 5.67 crore.
Interestingly, Gangubai Kathiawadi, one of the biggest recent Bollywood A-list releases, took Rs 57 crore in its first five days of sales last month. Whereas, Vivek Agnihotri’s small budget movie, The Kashmir Files’ box office collections has passed the Rs 79 crore mark and counting. Since opening on Friday the Kashmir Files has gone from being shown on 400 screens nationwide to more than 3,000 screens now.
Meanwhile, comparing The Kashmir Files Day-6 box office collection to that with previous Bollywood blockbusters of pre-pandemic times, it has outperformed Ajay Devgn starter Tanaji, which earned Rs 16.72 crores and Ranveer Singh’s sports drama ’83’ that had made Rs 7.73 crore by the 6th day.
The Kashmir Files is based on true stories about Kashmiri Pandits. It transports viewers back to 1989, when conflict erupted in Kashmir as a result of rising Islamic Jihad, forcing the vast majority of Hindus to flee the valley. Between February and March 1990, approximately 100,000 of the valley’s total 140,000 Kashmiri Pandit inhabitants migrated, according to estimates. In the years that followed, more of them fled, until only about 3,000 families remained in the valley by 2011. The unspeakable brutality and trauma the Kashmiri Hindus had to face during that time is what Vivek Agnihotri has tried to bring to the fore through his film, which is steadily on its way to becoming the biggest blockbuster movie.
