Slightly on a contradicting view, Trade Expert Atul Mohan says, “Yes, it is one of the biggest releases of the year so far, and that too by one of the biggest filmmakers that we have today. But surprisingly, in Hindi, the advance booking in not that great. In the south, it’s massive. Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh it is fantastic. Weekend is going to be super solid there. The advance bookings in the Hindi belts is very poor. The primary reason is the massive success of ‘The Kashmir Files’. With that film, most of the audiences have exhausted their monthly budget for a theatrical visit with the family. It went on to become a massive hit. Then the other reason is that the multiplexes have kept the ticket prices a bit too high. Yes there are movie fans who will go on the first day first show, but because of the ticket prices being high people tend to watch the response (and reviews) for the first day or so, and then take a call whether or not to plan that movie at the theatres. When the movie’s release date was announced it was predicted that the opening day it would make around 20-25 crores, but with ‘Bachchan Panday’ also flopping, the expectations have come down to 10-15 crores (for Hindi). It’s not too good.”