Bollywood
The Bengal Files vs The Kashmir Files Box Office: Vivek Agnihotri's Final Files Chapter Struggles With Just 25% Of TKF's 3-Day Biz
Mumbai, September 8 - National award-winning filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri's Files trilogy is heading towards a disappointing conclusion after the final chapter, The Bengal Files, falling short of expectations at the box office despite carrying similarities with The Kashmir Files, which became a mega blockbuster success. Based on the tragic true events surrounding Direct Action Day, also known as the Great Calcutta Killings on August 16, 1946, The Bengal Files has had an underwhelming opening weekend collection at the domestic box office. Despite positive reviews, the movie couldn't fly during the weekend after a decent opening of 1.75 crores net. TBF scored just around one-fourth (25%) of TKF with approximately 6.75 crores net (8 crores gross) in its 3-day opening weekend domestically. In comparison, the previous film in the Files series, The Kashmir Files, had an excellent domestic weekend with around 32 crores gross (27+ crores net). The sharp decline between the two films highlights the massive gap in audience interest towards the subject. While The Kashmir Files benefitted from extraordinary word-of-mouth, along with the awareness of the historical events, and became a cultural phenomenon, The Bengal Files is struggling to gain momentum, as trade believes that not many people are aware of the events shown in the film. One of the other major reasons for TBF's underwhelming performance is that the hasn't been allowed to release in its best-suited market, West Bengal, under political pressure from the ruling state party. The coming weekdays will be crucial to determine whether the film can pick up pace or settle for a modest run compared to its blockbuster predecessor. Stay tuned...
