Akshay Kumar’s Raksha Bandhan is down 30% on its second day after a poor opening day. The film, directed by Aanand L Rai and released on Thursday with Raksha Bandhan Holiday, is said to be distributed by Indian Box Office, according to Indian Box Office. Raksha Bandhan debuted at a disappointing Rs 8.2 lakh on its first day of release. That brought the film’s two-day total to around Rs 140 crore.
The BOI report noted that the film did well in the mass market, but was a flop in South India, where Akshay didn’t have much of a presence. After Bachchhan Paandey and Samrat Prithviraj, this is the once-unbeatable star’s third consecutive box office hit this year. The actor has previously starred in the pandemic hit Sooryavanshi and the underperforming BellBottom. He also made a cameo appearance in Aanand L Rai’s latest film, Atrangi Re, which debuted directly on the Disney+ Hotstar streaming platform.
Raksha Bandhan’s opening day was not enough to earn a spot on the list of the five biggest opening days of the year, which included Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 (Rs 141 crore), Bachchhan Paandey (Rs 132 crore) and Laal Singh Chaddha (Rs 120 crore), Samrat Prithviraj (Rs 107 crore) and Gangubai Kathiawadi (Rs 105 crore). Raksha Bandhan actually performed like Akshay’s infamous 2009 bomb Kambakkht Ishq, which grossed just over Rs 7 crore on its opening day and ended its run at around Rs 450 crore.
Reviews were also negative, criticizing Rai’s gender politics and the script by Himanshu Sharma and Kanika Dhillon. Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express wrote in her 1.5-star review: “The filmmakers really believe in this cheap family drama with an uncomfortable mix of humor and rudeness. , is the way out for troubled Bollywood?”
Things are grim for Bollywood, as Raksha Bandhan and Laal Singh Chaddha have had a particularly troubling year at the box office. It’s even worse for Akshay, as he may have three duds back-to-back now. Speaking to The Indian Express earlier this year about his career setbacks, he said: “The way to fail is the same. Not only did I have 13-14 failures, but there was a period in between, My 8-9 movies failed. I always say you’re going to be sad for a failure Friday to Sunday, and Monday you have to pick yourself up to shoot another movie and be super happy on set. You can’t hang around Sad face. You have to enjoy your work. A good movie can only be made if you like the movie.”