Fighter, which was released on January 25, had a pretty decent opening weekend collection. Directed by Siddharth Anand, Fighter took home earnings of Rs 123.60 crore in India in its extended first weekend. Which is quite good on a standalone basis. The aerial actioner, starring Hrithik Roshan, Deepika Padukone and Anil Kapoor, rode on the hype of its on-the-face nationalism and fighter jet action sequences; however, the film had gotten mixed reviews from the critics. However, when you compare the collections of Fighter with that of Pathaan, you can clearly see a setback in the box office collections of the former. Fighter Box Office Collection Day 4: Hrithik Roshan-Deepika Padukone’s Aerial Action-Thriller Earns Rs 123.60 Crores in India!

Why the need for comparison? Well, both the films were directed by Siddharth Anand and were released on the same festival period on the same date, with Pathaan coming out in 2023. Both films also had Deepika Padukone as the female lead and had terrorism (along with Pakistan) as a major theme while packaged as commercial entertainers.

Check Out Fighter's Opening Weekend Collections:

However, the Shah Rukh Khan-led Pathaan went on to earn Rs 280.75 crore in its opening weekend in India, which is more than double Fighter's collections in the same period. Now you can credit Shah Rukh Khan's comeback after a gap of five years on screen as the reason for this, though he was going through one of his worst slumps of box office releases before that. Not to mention, SRK had three cameo appearances in 2022 in Brahmastra, Rocketry and Laal Singh Chaddha. Pathaan went on to collect Rs 543.05 crore in India.

So what worked for Pathaan, which Fighter seems to be lacking?

For one, Pathaan was a film that appealed to city audiences as well as rural centres, and Shah Rukh Khan was also a big draw in South India (the controversy surrounding the "Besharam Rang" song also helped in the matter). Fighter, while far more boisterous of its nationalistic content, is still a bit too inclined towards the multiplex appeal with its Top Gun-inspired action and drama. Trade analyst Taran Adarsh, while posting the opening weekend collections of Fighter, had this to say, "While urban centres range from excellent to very good, the mass pockets / single screens haven’t tapped its real potential." Fighter Movie Review: Hrithik Roshan and Deepika Padukone's Aerial Actioner Gets Grounded By Its Generic Storytelling Beats.

So what do you think, readers? Will Fighter manage to catch up to Pathaan in the coming days, or Pathaan's box office benchmarks are out of reach for the movie? With no major releases in Bollywood till February 9 (when Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya arrives in theatres), Fighter surely has the playground mostly to itself for now.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 29, 2024 02:09 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).