Banjo, Parched box office collection day 1: Amitabh Bachchan’s Pink rules over new releases

He also tweeted Pink’s box office numbers. “#Pink Fri 4.32 cr, Sat 7.65 cr, Sun 9.54 cr, Mon 3.78 cr, Tue 3.51 cr, Wed 3.87 cr, Thu 3.24 cr. Total: ₹ 35.91 cr. India biz.”

Banjo is the Hindi directorial debut of talented Marathi filmmaker Ravi Jadhav of Timepass fame. At the box-office, the movie has managed to grab an average of five screenings per multiplex, which should give it a great head start. Finally, it will depend on the content and word of mouth publicity if Banjo has to take off well.

The Indian Express film critic Shubhra Gupta wrote, “But Banjo has practically no redeeming features. It is about an NRI musician’s (Nargis Fakhri) search for an original sound which leads her to the banjo artist Tarraat (Riteish Deshmukh) and his ragtag band, and what happens next.

Because underdogs have to win, we know how things will pan out. But the painful progression to that climactic point is filled with uniformly terrible acting, clichéd situations and shouty, obvious dialogue.”

Also Read | Banjo movie review: Riteish Deshmukh, Nargis Fakhri film has no redeeming features

Parched, on the other hand, has got rave reviews from critics. However, it has reportedly got few screens compared to Banjo. It has only managed to get an average one screen per theatre, especially in PVR. At a few other multiplexes, the screen numbers range between 1 to 3 which is again few and far in between. Another minus point is the A certificate that the movie has received which will keep kids at bay.

Also Read | Parched movie review: A good end to a problematic journey

“But despite Parched’s obvious worthy intentions, its execution left me discomfited. The violence unleashed on the women, including the clearly underage bride who is ravished by her entitled ‘husband’, the drunken beatings which leave Lajjo routinely broken and bruised, the horrific assaults on Bijli’s supine body, are relentless. The film shows all its punches landing where they hurt most, and after a while, it all becomes too much, almost gratuitous,” wrote Shubhra Gupta in her review.