Udta Punjab finally released at the theatres on Friday after winning the battle with CBFC. Considering all the tussle the film went through one expected that the pandemonium might just create a craze and work out well for the film.
This has been the reaction on social media after watching the film:
Superb,Awesome,Mind-blowingLoved to watched @shahidkapoor bang on performance as Tommy Singh on #UdtaPunjab.👌👌👌 pic.twitter.com/OiPYHk7DPY
— Shiv Dutta (@imshiva17) June 18, 2016
In #UdtaPunjab, fact meets fiction seamlessly. The film must be seen. @shevy_nevy reviews https://t.co/bR6VrONHol pic.twitter.com/E8lEyOb8Pt
— Anupama Chopra (@anupamachopra) June 17, 2016
#UdtaPunjab is bold, brave and brilliant with bravura performances. Watch it!
— taran adarsh (@taran_adarsh) June 17, 2016
In my list of effortless actor there is a new name added for his brilliant work in #UdtaPunjab @diljitdosanjh tussi great ho paaji 🙏🏼
— Arshad Warsi (@ArshadWarsi) June 17, 2016
Just watched #UdtaPunjab!!! Mind, heart and soul shaken. Every beat so honest. POWERFUL performances and a brave brave TEAM. Kudos.
— Dia Mirza (@deespeak) June 16, 2016
@shahidkapoor‘s spunk, @aliaa08‘s act/vulnerability, @diljitdosanjh‘s effortlessness made #UdtaPunjab a winner. Kudos Chaubey & @HoneyTrehan
— Ayushmann Khurrana (@ayushmannk) June 18, 2016
What a fantastic film… #UdtaPunjab.
— Hansal Mehta (@mehtahansal) June 18, 2016
A powerful film. M moved,shocked & in awe of #UdtaPunjab.Take a bow team & thank u 4 showing us the dark truth. Thank u sir @anuragkashyap72
— Raj Kummar Rao (@RajkummarRao) June 18, 2016
#UdtaPunjab started slow this morning but collections showing a jump in evening and night shows. Word of mouth is positive.
— Komal Nahta (@KomalNahta) June 17, 2016
Oh yes… and Arvind Kejriwal posted about it too.
But some distributors are not very happy with the way business is turning out at single screen cinemas.
Rajesh Thadani a film distributor said “The opening is just average and I think the film will just collect about Rs.8 to 9 crore on its first day, which is below our expectation. The opening has certainly not been encouraging considering the controversy. The film has not opened well in single screens and even in multiplexes, the film has opened well just in a few pockets,” he told IANS.
Considering the controversies, he too had high expectations from the film in terms of its box office business, but the numbers failed to impress him on day 1.
The filmmakers of Udta Punjab faced a series of unfortunate events for the past few weeks. It all began when the film was uselessly being politicized. Then followed the trolls and finally their worst nightmare occurred when someone leaked the film online.
But Surendra Saluja, a distributor from Punjab had a slightly different story to tell about the film’s progress in the state.
“The opening shows were not that great but the next shows went houseful. Now most of the shows are houseful in multiplexes but there is a major drop in single screens.”