The Independence Day weekend is a big one for Bollywood. Two awaited Hindi films are releasing in theatres. Sunny Deol is reuniting with Rajkumar Santoshi after two decades for Batwara 1947, a social drama set during the Partition. On the other hand, Emraan Hashmi is returning as Shivam Pandit in Awarapan 2, a much-awaited sequel. As the two heavyweights clash, Emraan’s romance drama is expected to take the lead right out of the starting blocks, as things stand.Awarapan 2 vs Batwara 1947 box office clashBoth films are highly anticipated. Batwara 1947 marks the reunion of Sunny Deol and Rajkumar Santoshi, buoyed by the backing of Aamir Khan, who is producing the film. The film also sees Preity Zinta return to the big screen after almost a decade. Awarapan 2, on the other hand, is a legacy sequel, carrying on from the 2007 cult classic. It brings back Emraan Hashmi in perhaps his most memorable role, along with a strong support cast of Shabana Azmi, Disha Patani, and Suvinder Vicky. The film’s music has generated a strong buzz. Given the larger scale, Awarapan 2 has a slight edge with distributors, just about edging out Batwara 1947. But by and large, both films have managed to secure enough screens across India. Awarapan 2 blitzing past Batwara 1947The advance booking for both films opened around 48 hours before release. By noon on Thursday, Awarapan 2 had raced ahead with a comfortable lead. Sacnilk reported that Batwara had sold around 30k tickets nationwide for day 1, minting ₹81 lakh gross. In comparison, Awarapan had sold over 1 lakh tickets, minting ₹3.25 crore. It is out-earning Batwara by almost four times in advance bookings. But Batwara 1947 is likely to reduce that gap with higher spot bookings on Friday, a staple for Sunny Deol films. But trade analysts say Awarapan 2 will be the winner in this battle. Most estimates put the film’s opening at a staggering ₹20 crore net. Even the more conservative estimates are around ₹15-18 crore, a solid figure. Batwara 1947, on the other hand, is likely to open at ₹8-10 crore, which is also a solid figure given its sensitive subject matter. Eventually, both films may have a good opening weekend, but just how good depends on how they are received. As things stand, Awarapan 2 should be looking to cross ₹100 crore worldwide in its opening weekend itself, eight times part 1’s lifetime collection. That is an extraordinary turnaround.
