Sunny Deol’s latest film Batwara 1947 is finding it difficult to maintain its box office momentum. The Partition drama, which was released on the eve of Independence Day, saw another major drop in collections on Wednesday. The film earned Rs 1.40 crore nett, recording a 38 percent decline compared with Tuesday.
With Wednesday’s collection added, Batwara 1947 has reached Rs 32.15 crore nett at the domestic box office. The film is also yet to cross the Rs 50 crore mark worldwide. Despite the low numbers, some centres have performed relatively better than others. Delhi NCR has recorded stronger occupancy, while cities such as Lucknow and Jaipur have also shown comparatively better audience response.
Reportedly made on a budget of Rs 140 crore, the film is facing a difficult path ahead. Based on its current performance, Batwara 1947 could struggle to recover even half of its reported production cost through its theatrical run. The film will, however, have some time to attract audiences as there is no major release arriving immediately.
The movie is expected to benefit from the lack of significant competition in theatres over the coming week. Its relatively clear run will continue until Toxic arrives in cinemas on August 26. The performance during this period will be important in deciding how much further the film can go.
The film’s box office performance is also a setback for Sunny Deol, who has enjoyed strong theatrical success in recent years. The actor returned to the top of the box office with Gadar 2 in 2023 and followed it with Border 2 in 2026. However, Batwara 1947 has not been able to match the response received by those films.
Directed by Rajkumar Santoshi, the film marks his reunion with Sunny Deol after 30 years. The actor and director previously worked together on several popular films during the 1990s, including Ghayal in 1990, Damini in 1993 and Ghatak in 1996.
Batwara 1947 also features Preity Zinta, Shabana Azmi, Abhimanyu Singh and Ali Fazal in important roles. AR Rahman has composed the music, while Javed Akhtar has written the lyrics.
With its collections currently standing at Rs 32.15 crore nett, Batwara 1947 now needs a strong second week to improve its final theatrical numbers.