Marred by coronavirus pandemic, 'Angrezi Medium' settles for Rs. 9cr
Even as a lot of fans waited with much excitement for Irrfan Khan's comeback movie Angrezi Medium, it, unfortunately, could not translate into good business for the film, thanks to the rising panic over the novel coronavirus outbreak and the subsequent closure of cinema halls in several parts of the country. The movie could garner only around Rs. 9.5 crore in its first weekend.
After receiving a sluggish start of Rs. 4.03 crore on Friday, Angrezi Medium's box office collection only went downhill, as it minted Rs. 2.75 crore on Saturday and between Rs. 2.5 and 2.75 crore on Sunday. This takes the movie's total three-day collection to an estimated Rs. 9.50 crore, which falls way short of the expectations, considering the movie boasted of a stellar cast.
While movie-goers had their doubts about heading outdoors, the government's decision to shut down theaters in several states including Delhi, Kerala, parts of Maharashtra and Jammu region proved to be a double whammy for the movie. For the unversed, Angrezi Medium is a spin-off of the 2017 film Hindi Medium. It stars Kareena Kapoor Khan, Radhika Madan, and Deepak Dobriyal in pivotal roles.
And as if poor business wasn't bad enough, Angrezi Medium also received mixed to poor critic reviews. In our review of the movie, we wrote, "Even as Irrfan Khan and Deepak Dobriyal do their best to keep the film alive, it relies way too heavily on the two of them, as the writing here just isn't sharp and convincing enough to keep you engaged."
Meanwhile, Tiger Shroff's Baaghi 3, which opened in theaters on March 6 also faced the brunt. The movie, which recorded a good first-weekend collection at the box office, suffered in its second week. In ten days of its release, the action-thriller has reportedly garnered Rs. 92 crore, and is inching towards the Rs. 100 crore club at an extremely slow speed.
Looking at the bigger picture, the coronavirus scare is adversely affecting the movie business. To contain spread of the deadly virus, film associations have decided to stall all productions until March 31. The release of major movies like Sooryavanshi have also been postponed. In fact, a report in Mumbai Mirror said that Bollywood could lose a whopping Rs. 800 crore due to the outbreak.
