A quieter Diwali at box office: Collection may see 60% dip

Contrary to the previous years when Diwali shone brighter with big movie releases, this year, the festival will not see any A-list stars on the silver screen, which, according to trade analysts, could lead to a dip in the box office collection by up to 60 per cent.

- ROSHNI SHEKHAR

Last year’s Diwali saw two major Hindi films being released, Anees Bazmee’s horror-comedy Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 and Rohit Shetty’s cop universe movie Singham Again. This Diwali will see Maddock Film’s Thamma, the fifth part of its horror-comedy universe starring Ayushmann Khurrana and Rashmika Mandanna, being released on October 21. Apart from Thamma, another Hindi romantic film, Ek Deewane ki Deewaniyat, will be released on Tuesday.

"Last Diwali’s double-franchise clash between Singham Again and Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 contributed over ₹600 crore in domestic gross (box office), nearly a 10th of India’s annual Hindi box office. This year’s Thamma-Deewaniyat pairing, however, is projected to deliver around ₹250 crore, marking a contraction of nearly 60 percent," said Suniel Wadhwa, cofounder and director, Karmic Films, a film production and distribution company.