Ramayana Part One Advance Bookings Update: Ranbir Kapoor, Yash starrer battles Pre Diwali, Rakes in Rs. 30 Cr in presales

Ramayana: Part One is entering the final stretch of its advance sales in India. As of this morning, the film has raked in Rs. 13 crore nett approx for its opening day. The sales are well spread over the weekend though, with the five-day advance being more than double that, at around Rs. 27 crore nett approx. The above figures are for the Hindi version only. The film also has dubbed South Indian versions, which have added another Rs. 3.50 crore nett for the first day, with more than half of that total coming from the Kannada version. 

A vast majority of advance sales for the film are at the national chains, where it has sold 198,000 tickets. While the absolute sales numbers are healthy, the pace is a bit sluggish, as it added only 23,000 yesterday. Ideally, this should have been closer to 40,000-50,000. At this rate, the film may only reach 325,000 tickets for the first day in these chains, unless there is a drastic acceleration in the pace on the penultimate day. 

Now these numbers are not what one would expect from a film the scale of Ramayana. However, this is where the Pre-Diwali factor comes in. The period before Diwali is considered to be a slow period for the Hindi box office, particularly in the Northern states. Within that, the impact is fiercer in the smaller centres. It is also evident in the advance trend of the film, as the sales are currently driven by the bigger metro centres, while the smaller the centre you go, the smaller the advance is. This normally happens for films with subjects which are limited in appeal to these bigger centres, and Ramayana is definitely not that subject. In fact, this is a film that, on paper, should outperform in these smaller centres, with the film having strong devotional themes. 

While Pre-Diwali is hurting the film in the North, the South numbers aren’t what they could have been. Here, the reason is that dubbed versions are taking away from it, especially the Kannada version in Karnataka. Normally, these dubbed versions are to reach an extra audience in the interiors of Southern states where Hindi doesn’t have much of an audience, but in the case of Ramayana, the dubbed versions have gotten a big amount of showcasing in the premium plexes of metros like Bengaluru and Hyderabad, which is keeping the Hindi version low. It is possible that the Hindi version may end up losing Rs. 5 crore nett or so to the dubbed versions. 

Taking all these factors into account, Ramayana: Part One appears headed for an opening day that could fall short of expectations, but that will be more to those expectations not accounting for the release timing. At this point, it looks like the film should clear Rs. 50 crore nett, with a shot at reaching Rs. 60 crore nett, subject to how walk-up business goes. While on one hand, you have a film that has a broad family appeal that gets strong late walk-ups, on the other, the Pre-Diwali festivities could keep these families away, other than being a mid-week Thursday release. So it will be interesting to see how the Pre-Diwali factor impacts walk-ups. 

For now, Ramayana: Part One has to navigate through the weekend, battling Pre-Diwali and then from Monday, once the festivity is out of the way, that is when the film should come on its own. The weekdays will remain at elevated levels as parts of the country continue to get a post-Diwali boost for four to five days, and of course, it is always impossible to project the trajectory for devotional films, as they could go anywhere.

DISCLAIMER: The box office figures, opening-day forecasts, and lifetime collection projections mentioned in this article are subjective trade estimates compiled from various commercial parameters, advance trends, and market sentiment. These are purely analytical tracking figures and do not constitute actual, finalised collections or certified accounting statements. Pinkvilla does not make any representation or warranty, express or implied, regarding the pinpoint accuracy or completeness of these projections. No statement in this article is intended to defame, harm, or malign any individual, production house, artist, or commercial entity involved in the making of the film.

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