Mom, Guest Iin London box office collections: Bollywood films earn less than Rs 5 cr; left behind by Spiderman: Homecoming

Friday, 7 July saw the release of films that are starkly different in terms of subjects — a revenge-drama about a mother who seeks justice for her daughter, a comedy about uninvited guests sending one man’s dreams of living in the UK for a toss, and a superhero film which traces the beginnings of a young high school student who discovers his powers. In what may seem like an exceptional case, the third film has performed the best at the box office.

Sridevi’s much awaited revenge-themed film Mom, which is centered on crimes against women earned Rs 3 crore on its opening day. Mom opened to 1806 screens worldwide, of which 1260 were in India. It has earned roughly Rs 50 lakh more than the actress’ last release English Vinglish. This figure is quite modest, considering that the budget of the film stands at Rs 15 crore.

Mom got mixed reviews from critics, but the one aspect of the film that was applauded unanimously was Sridevi’s acting. The film’s depiction of sexual assault was labelled cliché , and Akshaye Khanna was sadly underused while Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s looked overused, as a result of the histrionics of his character. Directed by Ravi Udyawar, this film also stars Sajal Ali, Adnan Siddiqui, Abhimanyu Singh, Vikas Verma, Adarsh Gourav Bhagvatula and Pitobash Tripathy.

Guest Iin London was criticised for being largely directionless and for Paresh Rawal’s flailing comic timing, and earned only Rs 1.50 crore at the box office on Friday. The morning shows of the film had 8-10% occupancy in the morning shows.

Surprisingly, the film does not restrain itself to the comedy genre; it also has elements of a thriller and romantic film. It chronicles the attempt of an Indian man to fake-marry a UK citizen who is Indian origin so that he can settle in the country, and how this attempt is made difficult by the entry of two uninvited distant relatives. Apart from Rawal, it also stars Tanvi Azmi, Kriti Kharbanda and Kartik Aaryan.

Put together, these two Bollywood releases have earned less than Rs 5 crore.

Spider-Man: Homecoming was received very well by critics, and some of them are even calling it the most enjoyable Marvel movie yet. Its shows had 35-40% occupancy , and it has earned Rs 6.5 crore, making much more progress than both Bollywood films combined.

The success of the film, directed by Jon Watts, is being credited to Tom Holland’s acting chops, as well as the focus on characterisation rather than depicting falling buildings and explosions. Holland is joined by Robert Downey Jr as Iron Man, Michael Keaton as The Vulture, as well as Jon Favreau, Zendaya, Donald Glover, Tyne Daly and Marisa Tomei.