Taapsee Pannu is returning to the big screen for the first time in two years with Anubhav Sinha’s courtroom drama, Assi. Billed as an ‘urgent watch’, Assi is the third collaboration between the actor and director after Mulk and Thappad, both of which achieved moderate success at the box office. Taapsee and Anubhav would hope a repeat of that with Assi, which releases in a changed box office climate post-pandemic.
Assi advance booking trends
The advance booking for Assi opened on Wednesday, two days ahead of its release in theatres. The film is not expected to score big in terms of advance bookings, which is largely reserved for tentpole films. The courtroom drama would hope to build on word of mouth. Critics reviews, which are already out, have praised the film, building some buzz, even if it is slightly muted due to the niche subject matter. Assi stars Taapsee Pannu as a lawyer fighting a rape case.
Assi box office prediction
According to trade insiders, Assi is looking at a ₹1.50-2 crore opening at the domestic box office on its opening day. Optimistic estimates say the film could reach ₹2.50 crore net in India, but that depends on the word of mouth. This means that the film would open to the kind of figures achieved by Mulk, Anubhav and Taapsee’s first collaboration, which opened at R ₹s 1.70 crore in 2018, or Kangana Ranaut’s Emergency, which opened at just above ₹2 crore net last year. Mulk was a moderate success, earning ₹29 crore on a ₹18-crore budget.
However, Assi’s opening is likely to be much below Thappad and Pink, two of Taapsee’s best solo openers. Both films earned over ₹4 crore net on their first days. Pink was a runaway hit, earning ₹157 crore worldwide. Thappad, on the other hand, managed close to ₹50 crore in two weeks before the COVID-19 pandemic caused shutdown of theatres nationwide.
Anubhav Sinha on Assi
In an interview with Hindustan Times, director Anubhav Sinha said he was confident that Assi will do well at the box office. “The audience is waiting for Assi, not specifically Assi, the film, but a film like Assi. On the previous occasions, we didn’t serve it to them conveniently,” he said.
Assi also stars Kani Kusruti in the lead role. The film, written by Gaurav Solanki, boasts a strong ensemble cast, including Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub, Kumud Mishra, Supriya Pathak, and Manoj Pahwa, along with cameos by Naseeruddin Shah and Divya Dutta. Produced by T-Series, the film releases in theatres on 20 February.