James Cameron’s visual masterpiece, Avatar: Fire and Ash, experienced a major check at the Indian box office this Monday. The film was able to reach the ₹70 crore mark in four days but had a drastic 65% drop on its first weekday. Although the global “Ash People” and the journey back to Pandora created hype around the film, the sci-fi sequel had difficulty keeping up with the grounded, high-octane momentum of the domestic champion, Dhurandhar.
The Ranveer Singh starrer, which is now in its third week, still attracts large crowds and thus proves that the local “Dhurandhar craze” is a very strong wall even against the most expensive Hollywood spectacles.
Strategic Occupancy and Regional Resilience
Avatar: Fire and Ash has taken a bigger toll of the Monday blues than was expected, as it managed to collect around ₹8.50 crore on its fourth day. The opening weekend was supported by the expensive 3D and IMAX formats in the urban centers such as Chennai and Bengaluru, but the weekday attendance fell to 18-19% on average. The movie, however, kept its strongest hold in the South Indian markets, where the technical expertise of Cameron is a big pull.
On the other hand, the Hindi-speaking regions were quite clear in their preference for home productions; thus, the sci-fi blockbuster had to content itself with a total domestic net of ₹75.75 crore.
The Dhurandhar Dominance Factor
What sets this box office conflict apart is the remarkable staying power of Dhurandhar. Typically, a major Hollywood release would dominate for at least a week, but the Aditya Dhar-directed film is an opposite case to tradition.
On the same Monday when Avatar was facing difficulties, Dhurandhar surprisingly earned almost twice the amount Avatar did, adding ₹16 crore to its already huge collection. The film’s close bond with Indian masses and the rapid “word-of-mouth” growth have almost “paralyzed” the upward curve that was expected from an Avatar movie, compelling the Na’vi to struggle for every screen.
A recent media graduate, Bhumi Vashisht is currently making a significant contribution as a committed content writer. She brings new ideas to the media sector and is an expert at creating strategic content and captivating tales, having working in the field from past four months.
