Ek Villain Returns box office day 1: Arjun Kapoor, John Abraham film makes ₹7cr

Ek Villain Returns has managed to get a decent start at the box office despite unfavourable movie reviews.

The Mohit Suri film, which stars John Abraham, Disha Patani, Arjun Kapoor, and Tara Sutaria in lead roles, released in theatres on July 29. The film is a sequel to Mohit’s 2014 film Ek Villain, which starred Sidharth Malhotra, Shraddha Kapoor, and Riteish Deshmukh.

Trade experts have pointed out that the original Ek Villain helped get its sequel a fair opening. However, it still needs to pick up the pace and do more business to become a box office success. The film earned ₹7 crore in India on its opening day.

Trade analyst Taran Adarsh tweeted the first-day box office collections figures of Ek Villain Returns on Saturday, writing, “Ek Villain Returns reaps the benefit of franchise factor, opens better at single screens of mass pockets and Tier-2 centres… Metros – especially national chains – need to gather momentum… Day 2 and 3 crucial… Fri ₹7.05 crore. India biz.”

A report in Box Office India noted that the film had collected ₹1.5 crore nett in advance bookings, which started on Wednesday; it carried that momentum on the day of the release, especially outside the high-end premium multiplexes. In contrast, Ek Villain had a huge opening of ₹16.5 crore. It collected an estimated ₹170 crore in its lifetime run.

Ek Villain Returns is set eight years after the events of its prequel, and introduces a new serial killer, who targets women, who have one-sided lovers. As per the Hindustan Times review of the film, “Two macho men – John Abraham and Arjun Kapoor – putting forth their best action-hero avatar and then two pretty girls – Disha Patani and Tara Sutaria – trying so hard to make some sense of their characters – yet, no foursome could save Ek Villain Returns.”