Image was shared on X. (courtesy: Real_Box_0ffice)
Fighter's box office graph seems to be keeping experts in overdrive. After a slump last week, the film registered a spike at the domestic box office in its second weekend. Fighter, starring Hrithik Roshan and Deepika Padukone, released on January 25 and collected over Rs 123 crore in its first –extended – weekend. It then dipped alarmingly with weekday earnings falling to single digits. However, numbers saw a boost in the second weekend. According to Sacnilk, Fighter's current box office total in India is Rs 175.75 crore and will likely cruise past the 200 crore mark this week.
Hrithik and Deepika play elite air force pilots in Fighter, directed by Siddharth Anand. Anil Kapoor, Karan Singh Grover and Akshay Oberoi play pivotal roles.
If Fighter's weekday crash left experts puzzled, its upwardly mobile second weekend is also an outlier. Trade analyst Taran Adarsh wrote in a post: "Fighter fights back. After a slump on weekdays, Fighter fights back to retain its place at the Indian box office. The resurgence and revival in Weekend 2 - after a sharp dip in Week 1 - is a rarity in today's times. Fighter now needs to stay afloat on weekdays [of Week 2] and cover lost ground. However, the great divide between urban centres and mass pockets remains, it was evident in Weekend 2 as well. Will urban centres bail out Fighter in the coming days - more so towards the forthcoming weekends - only time will tell."
See his post here:
On Sunday, Taran Adarsh provided an update on day 10 box office collection of Fighter. In his post on X (formerly known as Twitter), the film critic stated, “After a good trend on [second] Friday, Fighter is back in the running, witnesses solid growth on Saturday… Expectedly, urban centres dominate, taking its biz forward.”
He added, “[Week 2] Fri 6 crore, Sat 11 crore… Should score in double digits on Sunday [today] as well… Needs to continue the momentum on weekdays for better results. India biz. Boxoffice.”
Hrithik Roshan and Deepika Padukone have been receiving love from fans and industry colleagues. Recently, R Madhavan shared an appreciation note on X (formerly Twitter). The actor wrote, "Siddharth Anand - What an extraordinary film Fighter is ...with brilliant work by all concerned ... Take a bow the entire cast and crew…You guys have given Indian cinema a fantastic, super motivating, moving, and an archival film. This is simply going to be a hallmark of how truly international Indian cinema has become today." He also tagged Hritik Roshan, Deepika Padukone, and Anil Kapoor in his tweet.
Fighter was released on January 25. Viacom18 Studios and Marflix Pictures have jointly backed the film.