Akshay Kumar has finally delivered entertainment to the audience with his much-awaited spy-thriller ‘Bell Bottom’ that was released across the country on Thursday. The film marks the first big-ticket Bollywood flick to the big screen ever since cinema halls were shut for almost a year owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Starring Vaani Kapoor, Huma Qureshi, Lara Dutta and Adil Hussain in pivotal roles, the espionage made it to more than 1600 screens in India. While trade analysts predicted the opening business of the film to be around Rs 5 crore, now according to boxofficeindia.in , Akshay Kumar-Vaani Kapoor starrer has recorded Rs 3 crore approximately on its opening day.
With only 50% occupancy in cinema halls in most states, the numbers are said to pick up at the weekend. Meanwhile, the film has also missed business in Maharashtra as movie halls remain shut for safety measures.
Interestingly, Akshay’s last film ‘Good Newwz’ released in the pre-covid era has earned Rs 17.56 crore alone on Day 1.
Speaking about the risk of releasing the movie when only 50% occupancy in theatres and other restrictions, Akshay told in an interview, “The pressure is there on everybody but I’m very sure that things are going to work out. There’s a challenge, a risk. But if you haven’t taken the risk in life, then what have you done? So we have gone with it. In this journey, I have my producers who have also taken the risk and that’s how we have proceeded.” Commenting on theatres being shut in Maharashtra, Akshay had quipped, “It is a gamble and someone had to take this gamble. We have taken this leap and I’m confident that this is going to work.”
Directed by Ranjit Tewari, ‘Bell Bottom’ is based on the true events of a hijack set in 1984.
