Emergency Box Office Day 1 Prediction: Will Kangana Ranaut's Film Surpass Her Lowest Opener Tejas?

Kangana Ranaut's Emergency is expected to open to a slow start, aiming to surpass her lowest opener Tejas.

Hyderabad: Kangana Ranaut's long-awaited political drama Emergency has finally been released in theatres after facing several delays. However, the film seems to have gotten off to a rather slow start at the box office, collecting around Rs 0.15 crore, from its early morning shows, as reported by Sacnilk. Given the sluggish current conditions, the industry expects this movie to pick up as the day progresses and advance ticket sales suggest the recovery can be anticipated. This is likely to position Emergency as among one of Kangana's good post-pandemic openings.

Ranaut's films were running pretty well before COVID-19; after that, her movies received lukewarm responses. Box office numbers for her recent films failed to deliver fair opening numbers compared to her pre-pandemic releases. Her 2019 film Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi opened at Rs 8.75 crore, while the first-day collection of Panga was Rs 2.70 crore. Post-COVID, her Thalaivii released in 2021 made Rs 1.46 crore; Chandramukhi 2 and Tejas, released in 2023, made Rs 9.7 crore and Rs 1.25 crore, respectively, on their opening day.

Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi (Day 1)	Rs 8.75 cr
Panga (Day 1)	Rs 2.70 cr
Thalaivii (Day 1)	Rs 1.46 cr
Chandramukhi 2 (Day 1)	Rs 9.7 cr
Tejas (Day 1)	Rs 1.25 cr

Data Source: Sacnilk

Industry experts are estimating that Emergency might be heading in a similar direction. The early morning earnings have not been impressive, but the film is expected to net Rs 2 crore on Day 1 in India, possibly even overtaking Tejas as Kangana's lowest post-pandemic opener.

The release of Emergency coincides with Cinema Lovers Day, during which select theatres are offering tickets at a discounted price of Rs 99. Kangana took to social media, urging audiences to experience the film at affordable rates. She wrote, "Watch Emergency at Rs 99." This could trigger ticket sales and collections slightly.

Directed and co-produced by Kangana Ranaut, Emergency centres around the turbulent political climate during the 21-month emergency period in India from 1975 to 1977. Apart from Kangana, the film stars Shreyas Talpade as Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Milind Soman as Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw, Mahima Chaudhary as Pupul Jayakar, and the late Satish Kaushik as Jagjivan Ram.

Though Emergency heads in advance bookings in a slight lead over its competitor Azaad, starring debutants Aaman Devgan and Rasha Thadani, both films have had poor advance ticket sales. Whether Emergency would accelerate and garner connection with audiences thus remains to be seen.

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