Ek Villain Returns, directed by Mohit Suri, had a respectable debut weekend. At Rs 8.35 crore, the romantic thriller, which stars John Abraham and Arjun Kapoor, as well as Disha Patani and Tara Sutaria, made its first weekend total of Rs 22 crore. On its first weekend, the film earned Rs 6.65 crore on Friday and Rs 7 crore on Saturday.
Sunday saw a 30% increase in mass belts, while major multiplex chains grew by 16%. CI’s weekend receipts increased from $28.3 million on Friday to $50 million on Sunday, an almost 80 percent increase. In spite of the bad reviews from reviewers, Ek Villain Returns had a nice weekend with a good number of people showing up to see it, even though it was expected to fall flat. The weekend’s attendance may have increased by an additional 10 to 15 percent if the soundtrack had been released as soon as Mohit Suri’s last film, Malang, was released.
Due to the positive word-of-mouth generated by viewers’ willingness to see Ek Villain Returns, its popularity is expected to soar starting on Monday night. After Laal Singh Chaddha’s and Raksha Bandhan’s releases, if the picture manages to make Rs 3.25 crore on Monday, it would be in good shape for the rest of the year. It’s a moral win for Ek Villain Returns, which made more money in its first weekend than many big-name films have ever made over the course of their entire careers.
A long way remains for the film’s success, but given the year’s run of feature films, every minor milestone is worth celebrating as a stepping stone toward greater things to come. The fact that Ek Villain Returns did well in its opening weekend has given the industry some much-needed breathing room, since audiences aren’t abandoning Hindi films altogether, but they are becoming more selective about what they see on the big screen. All eyes are now on Monday’s critical exam.