Hrithik Roshan turned to social media on Sunday to confirm War 2 advance bookings finally open up in India. The movie has already minted over ₹2 crore so far, even facing some problems. The movie is out on Thursday, August 14.
According to Sacnilk.com, as of Sunday at 9pm, the advance booking number has surpassed ₹2.24 crore. The numbers are for around 9000 Hindi (2D, IMAX, DOLBY, 4DX and others), 100 Tamil and 115 Telugu shows. The numbers for Telugu shows are below expectations, given that the movie also features a Telugu superstar, Jr NTR.
Clash with Rajinikanth’s Coolie on Release Day
Though the figures are encouraging, War 2 will also have to contend with a giant to capture more eyeballs in cinemas. The giant is Rajinikanth’s Coolie, opening on the same date.
Sacnilk report further stated that with ‘block seats’, the figure is very close to ₹7.6 crore. Block seats are typically booked by cinema houses for spot booking and/or studios as part of special offers or in-house promotions.
Mixed Response in International Advance Bookings
Earlier last week, international advance booking also started for War 2, but the reaction there was not so welcoming. One day after US pre-bookings of War 2 opened, the Telugu version picked up some pace, but the Hindi one was lagging behind. Information from prominent ticketing websites points out that the majority of big theatres playing the Hindi version for Wednesday premieres haven’t sold even a single ticket. Trade sources indicate YRF is releasing the Hindi version in 900 US screens for paid previews, but until last Sunday morning, only some 1,600 tickets had been sold, and many auditoriums were nearly empty.
Hrithik on Working with Jr NTR
War 2 sees Hrithik reprise his role as rogue R&AW agent, Kabir. He gets a new villain this time played by Jr NTR. His romantic interest has also been changed this time from Vaani Kapoor to Kiara Advani.
On working with Jr NTR for the first time, Hrithik said, “I see a lot of myself in Tarak. We have had very similar journeys for 25 years now, and I think Tarak sees a little bit of himself in me also. It is true when they say that he is a one-take final-take star. On set, Tarak, I have not just observed you, but I have learnt from you. I have learnt how to go into a shot 100% — not 99.99%, not 99.999, but 100%. Which is why when he comes out of a shot, there is no judgement on me. He will not even check the shot because he knows he has given everything to it. And I will apply that in my future films. Tarak, thank you for teaching me that.”
The movie is being directed by Ayan Mukherji and is the newest in YRF Spy Universe, following Tiger films starring Salman Khan, War starring Hrithik and Pathaan starring Shah Rukh Khan. Alpha starring Alia Bhatt and Sharvari is also under production.
