Bhool Chuk Maaf's Box Office Triumph: Rajkummar Rao & Wamiqa Gabbi Film Earns Rs 27.75 Cr Weekend, Surpassing 'Emergency' & 'The Diplomat'

"Bhool Chuk Maaf" Achieves Strong Opening Weekend amidst Challenges

The romantic comedy "Bhool Chuk Maaf," featuring Rajkummar Rao and Wamiqa Gabbi, has demonstrated a noteworthy performance at the Indian domestic box office during its opening weekend. The film faced mixed reviews from critics. It also had to deal with an exceptionally short window before its scheduled streaming release. Despite these challenges, the movie, directed by debutant Karan Sharma, managed to attract audiences. It ultimately achieved a respectable collection. This collection surpassed some other recent Bollywood releases.

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The film commenced its theatrical journey on Friday, May 23, 2025, earning Rs 7 crore on its opening day. It showed positive momentum on Saturday, collecting Rs 9.5 crore. The upward trend continued into Sunday, which became its highest single-day earner with Rs 11.25 crore. This brought the film's opening weekend total to a significant Rs 27.75 crore, as reported by industry tracker Sacnilk. This figure means "Bhool Chuk Maaf" crossed the Rs 25 crore mark within its first three days. Industry observers suggested that if the film maintained its performance through the crucial first Monday, it was well-positioned to exceed Rs 30 crore.

This opening weekend performance places "Bhool Chuk Maaf" ahead of some other notable films released earlier in the year. For instance, it has already surpassed the lifetime domestic box office collection of Kangana Ranaut’s period political drama "Emergency," which stood at Rs 20.48 crore. It also significantly outperformed the opening weekend figures of the John Abraham-starrer thriller "The Diplomat," which had collected Rs 13.30 crore. In contrast, another recent Bollywood release, Prince Dhiman’s historical action film "Kesari Veer," starring Suniel Shetty and Sooraj Pancholi, garnered only Rs 32 lakh on Sunday, leading to an opening weekend total of just Rs 86 lakh. Meanwhile, established Hollywood films like "Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning" and "Final Destination Bloodlines" continued to draw audiences in India.

The occupancy rates for "Bhool Chuk Maaf" on Sunday indicated strong audience interest, particularly in the evening shows, which registered 43.96% occupancy. This was followed by afternoon shows (35.51%), night shows (29.05%), and morning shows (11.50%). Regionally, Chennai reported the highest occupancy at an impressive 86%, with other key centers like Jaipur (38.75%), Bengaluru (37.25%), the National Capital Region (33.25%), and Lucknow (33%) also showing healthy attendance.

One of the most significant hurdles for "Bhool Chuk Maaf" was its unusually brief theatrical exclusivity. The film is scheduled to premiere on the streaming platform Prime Video India on June 6, just two weeks after its cinema release. This compressed window typically discourages theatrical footfall, as audiences might opt to wait for the convenient home-viewing option. Despite this, the film's box office numbers have been robust enough for Kamal Gianchandani, Chief Business Planning & Strategy at PVR INOX Limited, to declare it "a genuine HIT" on social media platform X (formerly Twitter). He noted, "Some wrote off #BhoolChukMaaf citing ‘discount offers’ or ‘lack of appeal’ The box office tells a very different story... May has revived theatres, audiences are back in big numbers, and the big screens are booming all over the country."

This positive industry reaction comes after a period of uncertainty regarding the film's release. PVR INOX had previously approached the Bombay High Court challenging the producer's initial decision to release the film directly on an OTT platform. This decision was reportedly influenced by heightened national security concerns following the India-Pakistan conflict related to "Operation Sindoor" two weeks prior. PVR Inox had alleged a breach of an agreement dated May 6, which stipulated an eight-week theatrical window before any OTT release, and stated that the producers, Dinesh Vijan’s Maddock Films, had terminated this agreement just a day before the initially planned theatrical release of May 9, announcing an OTT premiere for May 16 instead.