Jaat is a shocker to the film trade. While the film has been praised for its well-crafted action scenes and for Sunny Deol’s strong screen presence, audiences have demonstrated an inexplicable reluctance to rush to movie theatres.
On Sunday, the collections of Jaat are as low as they were on its opening on Thursday, if not lower.
However, trade guru Taran Adarsh believes there could still be a turnover. “Too early to write off Jaat. Numbers are up today. Saturday to Monday is a long weekend and Jaat should bounce back and post a solid extended weekend total. The problem is the multiplexes of urban centres, which are not performing. Unlike Sikandar, Jaat has found appreciation, so let’s see.”
Trade analyst and producer Girish Johar too feels hopeful. “I feel it is a good start—Sunny Deol on his own, full-blown action, no music, hardcore North-specific, even the title is North-friendly—has opened to a good start. After a partial holiday on Thursday, there is a dip on Friday BO, but collections are bound to pick up over the weekend.”
Bihar’s leading distributor Kishan Damani is baffled by the box office snub. “Very honestly, I still don’t know what’s going wrong. Movie reports have been decent across all mass belts. The numbers have picked up in Bihar for Jaat. But it’s still below our expectations.”
The manager of a multiplex in Mumbai is far more forthright. “Jaat is a disaster. I don’t know why the blow is being softened. While it is too early to predict the volume of losses, the losses would be in the vicinity of ₹100–150 crores.”
