Anurag Basu’s latest romantic musical, Metro In Dino, starring Sara Ali Khan and Aditya Roy Kapur, has kicked off its box office journey with a modest collection on its opening day.
A Slow Start at the Box Office
The highly anticipated film, which also features a star-studded cast including Fatima Sana Shaikh, Ali Fazal, Neena Gupta, Konkona Sen Sharma, Pankaj Tripathi, and Anupam Kher, premiered on July 4.
Despite the big names, early estimates from industry tracker Sacnilk indicate a slow start, with the movie earning only Rs 2.63 crore nett across India on its first day.
The film saw an overall Hindi occupancy of 13.62% on Friday. Morning shows were particularly slow at 8.64%, though afternoon and evening shows showed slight improvement, reaching 14.24% and 17.99% respectively.
Interestingly, Bengaluru recorded the highest occupancy on day one, standing at 28.33%. Low advance bookings, which only brought in Rs 50-60 lakh, hinted at the lukewarm reception even before release.
While the initial numbers are modest, Metro In Dino has already surpassed its 2007 predecessor, Life in a… Metro, which opened with Rs 87 lakh and concluded its global run at Rs 24.31 crore.
Facing Stiff Competition
The film faces significant challenges from several other major releases currently in theatres.
It is competing directly with Kajol’s Maa, Aamir Khan’s Sitaare Zameen Par, and Hollywood biggies like Brad Pitt’s F1.
Notably, the newly released Jurassic World: Rebirth, starring Scarlett Johansson, Mahershala Ali, and Jonathan Bailey, has already outpaced Metro In Dino, pulling in Rs 4.43 crore in India on its opening day.
This intense competition will make it challenging for the romantic musical to gain significant momentum over its crucial opening weekend.
Critical Reception and Audience Buzz
Metro In Dino has garnered mixed reviews from critics and audiences alike since its release.
SCREEN’s review highlighted the film’s strengths, praising its “nimble writerly leaps” and natural-sounding dialogues.
The review noted that director Anurag Basu successfully injects messy emotions and captures graphs of “hurt and happiness,” especially in the film’s first half, which was found enjoyable.
However, the review also pointed out that the narrative tends to “slacken post-interval” and some crucial situations repeat, making the film feel stretched to its nearly three-hour runtime.
The blend of critical praise for its unique narrative style and concerns over its pacing suggests a divisive experience for viewers.
- Metro In Dino collected Rs 2.63 crore nett on its opening day in India.
- The film faces strong competition from other new releases, including Jurassic World: Rebirth.
- Reviews are mixed, praising the unique narrative but noting pacing issues and a lengthy runtime.
The coming days will be crucial to see if Metro In Dino can pick up pace and secure a stronger foothold at the box office.
