Demonetization hits box-office collections of Force 2, team says small price to pay
Actors John Abraham, Tahir Raj Bhasin and Sonakshi Sinha during the promotion of film Force 2. Picture: IANS
The demonetization of high value currency and the subsequent cash crunch will hit the box office collection of the recently released ‘Force 2’, said producer Vipul Shah.
A day after the film’s release, the box-office numbers are in and the collections of the John Abraham and Sonakshi Sinha-starrer have fallen short of expectations.
According to industry sources, Force 2 managed to gross around Rs 5 crore on Friday, mainly due to poor advance booking and an average response in both single screens and multiplexes.
Trade analysts expect the numbers to improve over the weekend. Meanwhile, it still bested the collections of Tum Bin 2, which managed to gross Rs 3 crore.
Despite the government’s best efforts, there has been a severe shortage of lower denomination and new notes in the economy ever since the demonetization decision was announced on November 8.
As a result, millions queued up outside banks and ATMs to withdraw and exchange money. Although the queues have started receding after ten days, people across the board have become more frugal with their spending, opting to spend cash on necessities first.
The decision to curb black money has, at least in the short term, had a drastic impact on businesses, including the entertainment industry.
“There might be some loss. It’s been 10 days… and people are facing this problem and I think Indians want to come out of this (problem) and get themselves entertained. We hope to contribute towards reducing the stress of people through our film,” Vipul told reporters last night at a promotional event of Force 2.
“Even Bookmyshow and Paytm (e-wallet) are looking to help people,” he said.
Despite the impact on box-office collections, both John and Sonakshi supported the demonetization drive, saying it is a great step forward to prevent corruption and curb black money.
“Force 2 is an important film for India. In clean (white) India, this is the first legitimate film. It’s a game-changing film. This is the first film that is releasing after the demonetisation move (announced on Nov 8). People want some relief and so they can come and watch Force 2,” John said.
The Rocky Handsome actor called the demonetisation measure ‘fantastic’.
“We should support this (move) as there will be lesser cases of corruption and black money,” said Sonakshi.
Helmed by Abhinay Deo, the movie is the second installment of action film ‘Force’, which released in 2011.
“We would want to make Force 3 but there is no script ready with us. Force is the biggest action franchise that we have today. After the release of Force 2, we will think and decide about Force 3,” John said.
