Last Friday, the cinemas opened to two big releases Bucket List and Parmanu: The Story of Pokhran. With Parmanu, the actor-turned-producer John Abraham unravelled the story of nuclear bomb test explosions that Indian Army covertly conducted in Pokhran in 1998. Parmanu was a 10-page idea that was handed over to John Abraham by the director Abhishek Sharma. Meanwhile, Bucket List is Madhuri Dixit’s Marathi debut film, which has been creating huge buzz everywhere.
Bucket List, that got a 409-screen release made about Rs 96 lakh on its opening day at the box office. Not a bad number at all - especially for a regional film with a limited release.
Trade analyst Taran Adarsh said, “Riding on Madhuri Dixit-Nene’s star power and content, #BucketList [Marathi] starts off VERY WELL... Fri ₹ 96 lakhs [409 screens]. India biz... This is Madhuri’s debut film in Marathi..”
Many critics have compared Bucket List to Sridevi’s comeback in English Vinglish but no one wants to give out the name of the winner. Perhaps, the box office numbers would, in due time.
Bollywood did its best to give way to Madhuri’s film with an average release for the week - Parmanu - The story of Pokhran. The John Abraham and Diana Penty-starrer film got some appreciation from critics and made an ordinary opening of Rs 4.75 crore at the box office.
In a conversation with a leading daily, John Abraham narrated how hard it was for him and his team to convert this thought into a film. He said, “What is important to me is that I pick up a subject that is non-formula. If I were to tell you that the villain in Parmanu is a satellite, you might just get surprised. Now when you think about it, it automatically becomes a tough subject to make. How do you cater to an audience that’s used to thali and normal food and then serve them sushi. How do you make sushi tasty so that they enjoy it. That’s why Parmanu happened and that’s why we developed it in-house.”
