Besharam vs Himmatwala: Box Office Comparison

Apart from Zanjeer which had a relatively smaller star-cast, the two biggest disasters of the year are Sajid Khan’s Himmatwala and Abhinav Kashyap’s Besharam. The former released just before the IPL on 3100 screens, while the latter was a holiday-release and was given the second widest release ever (3550 screens) for a Hindi film in India.

Himmatwala vs Besharam

Pre-release expectations for both films were huge – Sajid Khan with the success of Heyy Babyy and the Housefull series behind him, had promised the entire cast, crew and the production house (UTV) their biggest blockbuster ever (instead ended up giving them their biggest disaster). On the other hand, Ranbir’s popularity with the youth of India was at an all-time high with Barfi and Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani exceeding all expectations at the box office. Abhinav Kashyap too was the director of 2010’s most entertaining film Dabangg.

Ironically, the trailers and song promos of both films weren’t received well. On release, both started well and eventually crashed due to extremely negatively word-of-mouth publicity.

However, a comparison throws in a few surprises. Even though both film were rejected by the audience, Himmatwala sustained better and was clearly ahead of Besharam on most days expect the first day. Have a look!