Sunny Deol and Randeep Hooda’s pan-India action film Jaat has opened to rave reviews from critics and audiences. Written and directed by Gopichand Malineni, the film hit theatres on Thursday (April 10) and is expected to deliver a strong performance at the box office on its opening day.
According to Sacnilk, Jaat earned only Rs 2.37 crore in advance bookings for its opening day across India – a modest figure, especially for a film promoted as a pan-India action entertainer. The number falls short of expectations, particularly when compared to Sunny Deol’s previous release, Gadar 2, which had raked in a massive Rs 17.60 crore in advance bookings ahead of its 2023 release.
However, despite the underwhelming advance bookings, one factor working in Jaat’s favour is the strong potential for spot bookings, especially in tier-2 and tier-3 cities, where mass action films tend to perform well.
Sunny’s popularity in smaller centres could play a key role in boosting footfalls.
As of Thursday afternoon (April 10), the film had earned under Rs 2 crore, but trade analysts believe it still has a chance to touch the Rs 10 crore mark by the end of the day, depending on the late-hour turnout. If this happens, Jaat will be Sunny’s second-highest opener.
Sacnilk also reported that the film had an overall 12.49 per cent Hindi occupancy on the first day of its release.
Also, if the early reviews are to go by, the film is poised to be another record-breaking blockbuster in Sunny’s filmography after Gadar 2. Netizens and critics termed it as “paisa vasool entertainment”, and some even compared it with Salman Khan’s recent film, Sikandar, stating that AR Murugadoss’ film should have been entertaining like this one.
Jaat shows Sunny Deol in his element as he fights off a deadly criminal to save the terrorised locals of a remote coastal village and emerges to be their messiah. The film is packed with action, emotions and drama, and that is what seems to have impressed the audience.
Jaat also stars Randeep Hooda, Vineet Kumar Singh, Saiyami Kher, Regina Cassandra, Ayesha Khan and others in key roles.
With all the hype and positive reviews, it will now be interesting to see if Jaat manages to create the same atmosphere in theatres like his last film, Gadar 2, and if it manages to beat that film in terms of box office collection.
