Nearly two decades after the release of “Awarapan”, the film’s sequel has posted a strong opening at the box office, crossing Rs 120 crore worldwide in its first weekend. Emraan Hashmi-starrer “Awarapan 2”, which opened on August 14, has also emerged ahead of Sunny Deol’s “Batwara 1947” during the Independence Day weekend.

The sequel opened with Rs 23.40 crore in India on Friday, followed by Rs 34.09 crore on Saturday and Rs 26.82 crore on Sunday, taking its three-day domestic net collection to Rs 84.31 crore. According to the makers, its worldwide collection stood at Rs 120.86 crore.

The performance marks a notable turnaround for the franchise. The original “Awarapan”, directed by Mohit Suri and released in 2007, had a modest theatrical run but subsequently developed a strong following among viewers. Its reported lifetime collection of Rs 7.75 crore was surpassed by the sequel within hours of its release.

“Awarapan 2” also maintained a substantial lead over “Batwara 1947”, which has collected Rs 37.11 crore worldwide so far, according to the figures cited by the film’s makers.

The sequel’s Sunday occupancy was reported at 52.83 percent across 9,403 shows. Evening shows recorded the highest occupancy at 68.62 percent, while morning, afternoon and night shows registered 25.69, 60.38 and 56.62 percent, respectively.

Delhi-NCR recorded 55.8 percent occupancy across 947 shows, while Mumbai registered 42.8 percent across 751 shows.

The strong box-office response has not translated into uniformly positive critical reviews. Critics have acknowledged Hashmi’s performance and the film’s action sequences while pointing to weaknesses in the latter part of the narrative.

Hashmi reprises his role as Shivam Pandit in the sequel, which also stars Disha Patani, Puran Gabbi, Aniruddh Rawal, Shabana Azmi, Suvinder Vicky, Vijayant Kohli and Atul Kumar.

Directed by Nitin Kakkar, the film is produced by Vishesh Bhatt and Mukesh Bhatt under the Vishesh Films banner.

Source: India Today