Alia Bhatt was last seen in Kalank, which is a period love saga based against the backdrop of India-Pakistan partition. She was paired opposite Varun Dhawan in the film. Despite the huge buzz around it and an ensemble cast, Kalank didn't manage to do on critical as well as commercial level. It became the biggest opener of the year, courtesy the loyal fans of Varun Dhawan, Alia Bhatt and Madhuri Dixit. However, after the first day itself, Kalank's box office numbers started to plummet drastically. The decline was steep, around 45 per cent from the first day. In first week, Kalank earned around Rs 66 crore which is far below the expectations. Made with a mammoth budget of Rs 150 crore, it's hard to say whether this Karan Johar production will recover its cost or not.
During an award ceremony, when the media asked Alia Bhatt about audience's response to Kalank, she said, "Analyse toh mai nahi karugi because that's something that is not required. Janta ki adaalat sabse badi adaalat hoti hai and when the audience does not accept the film, then the film should not do well, that's just the way it is. Aur hume bas accept karke aage try karna hai to come back and make sure to not disappoint this time.”
Another reason why Kalank may not be able to recover its cost is Avengers: Endgame. The Marvel superhero film is releasing on April 26, and with only week days lined up before its release, Kalank gets a little or no room to recover. This Bollywood film will definitely die down after being hit by the Avengers: Endgame wave. The superhero film has already sold 1 million tickets in India in a span of just one day, shattering all the records. All the shows for the first three days of the release are already booked.
On the work front, Alia Bhatt will be next seen in Brahmastra, RRR and Inshallah.
