Akshay Kumar’s Welcome To The Jungle has made a decent start at the box office by collecting around Rs. 19 crore nett on its opening day. The total includes around Rs. 3.75 crore nett from Thursday previews and approximately Rs. 15 crore to Rs. 15.50 crore nett earned on Friday. The film has performed better than Akshay Kumar’s previous release, Bhooth Bangla, but its opening was still lower than what many expected after the early excitement around the film.
The film performed particularly well in the Mumbai circuit, while most other Hindi speaking regions also recorded good collections. Friday was a holiday because of Muharram, which helped increase footfall in cinemas. However, the holiday boost was not as strong as what is usually seen during major national holidays. The film saw relatively weaker collections in East Punjab and Delhi NCR. In East Punjab, one reason was the release of the Punjabi comedy Carry On Jatta 4, which attracted local audiences.
The Welcome franchise has been popular with audiences for many years. The original film was a major box office success and later became a favourite through television and digital platforms. The second film, despite not starring Akshay Kumar in the lead role, had opened to nearly Rs. 15 crore nett, which would be equal to around Rs. 35 crore in today’s market. Because of the strong brand value of the franchise, many expected Welcome To The Jungle to have a much bigger opening.
Some trade experts believe that the film’s promotional material may not have fully highlighted the nostalgic appeal of the Welcome series. Instead, many viewers felt the trailers focused more on comedy spoofs and parody style humour rather than the family entertainment that made the earlier films successful.
Despite this, the film appears to be receiving a better response from audiences than its promotional campaign did. Advance bookings for Saturday have shown improvement even after the Muharram holiday. Trade analysts also expect the film to record stronger collections on Sunday. If the positive audience response continues over the weekend, Welcome To The Jungle could strengthen its position at the box office and improve its overall performance in the coming days.