Apr 20, 2026 1:08pm IST
Box Office Weekend Winners: Akshay Kumar’s ‘Bhooth Bangla’ Takes Charge as ‘Dhurandhar 2’ Slows Down; ‘Vaazha II’ Continues Dream Run
After dominating the box office for four consecutive weeks, Ranveer Singh and Aditya Dhar's “Dhurandhar: The Revenge” has started to plateau. The action spectacle added 11.80 crore net in its fifth weekend, taking the total 32-day collection to 1073.26 crore net in India.
The collection has drastically dropped after it lost most of its screens to this week's new release, “Bhooth Bangla," starring Akshay Kumar. The Jio Studios and B62 Studios's joint production, however, are still maintaining the momentum within the limited screens it's showing in, and that can be gauged from the jump it witnessed over Saturday and Sunday. The film is projected to add another 20-25 crore before it finishes its theatrical run. “Dhurandhar 2” has already become the biggest Bollywood grosser of all time with approx. 1687.55 crore gross worldwide.
Akshay and Priyadarshan's “Bhooth Bangla” emerged as the clear box -office winner this weekend with a collection of 55.60 crore net, including paid previews. The horror-comedy opened well on Friday (12 crore) and witnessed a significant growth over the next two days, collecting 18.40 crore and 22 crore on Saturday and Sunday, respectively. It has shown strong momentum at the box office, but how it holds on Monday and during the weekdays will give us a clear picture about whether it becomes a sustained success or another disappointment for Akshay.
The trend so far suggests the film is likely to surpass the 100-crore mark at the box office. No major release next week will further help the film achieve a respectable number, which is good news for Akshay given his recent box-office trajectory. As of now, “Bhooth Bangla” is a top choice among moviegoers, and the filmmakers would be hoping this trend continues for at least the next fortnight.
Related Stories
Malayalam comedy “Vaazha II: Biopic of a Billion Bros” continues its extraordinary theatrical run and added another 10.6 crore on its third weekend. The film has emerged as a sensational blockbuster, thanks to exceptional word-of-mouth and high repeat value. It has collected 106.75 crore net and 123.47 crore gross within ten days, becoming the 7th Malayalam film to surpass the 100-crore mark.
“Vaazha II” has already made itself into the top five highest-grossing Malayalam films in India ever and is now on course to challenge even bigger records in the coming days. Today, in all likelihood, it will surpass Mohanlal and Prithviraj Sukumaran's "L2: Empuraan" (124.60 crore) and is also expected to overtake Mohanlal's other blockbuster, “Thudarum” (141.60 cr gross), in the coming days to become the third-highest Malayalam grosser of all time in India. Globally, the film has amassed 205.47 crore, making it the fifth highest-grossing Malayalam film worldwide.
The Telugu film "Love Insurance Kompany” (LIK) also maintained a solid momentum after an impressive 33.22 crore net in the first week. The Pradeep Ranganathan and Krithi Shetty-starrer sci-fi romantic comedy earned 4.34 crore net over the second weekend, bringing its domestic total to 37.55 crore net and 54.37 crore gross worldwide. Notably, it has performed better than Adivi Sesh's “Dacoit” (a much bigger film in budget and scale), which also released last week and so far has collected 32.06 crore net in India.
Ryan Gosling's “Project Hail Mary” is winning hearts even in its fourth weekend. It added 4.27 crore net this weekend, taking its total to 64.32 crore net and emerging as the biggest Hollywood hit of this year.
Meanwhile, the Malayalam film "Bharathanatyam 2 Mohiniyattam" has shown a remarkable turnaround. After a modest 6.56 crore during its first week, the film has recorded a significant surge in its second weekend, earning 3.97 crore net, more than half of what it collected in the first seven days. Total collection now stands at 10.53 crore net in India, with strong word-of-mouth driving renewed audience interest and positioning it as another potential sleeper hit for Malayalam cinema.
On the other hand, "Mr X,” a Tamil spy action thriller starring Arya, has failed to gain traction, earning only 2.20 net crore over the weekend.
(Figures are taken from Recobee and Sacnilk.)
Comments are moderated. They may be edited for clarity and reprinting in whole or in part in Variety publications.