Pankaj Tripathi hails Mirzapur The Movie makers for not plastering box office numbers online: 'There was zero pressure'

Pankaj Tripathi has credited Mirzapur The Movie producer Ritesh Sidhwani for not pressurising the cast to share box office collections online, as is the norm.

Mirzapur: The Movie has been one of the biggest success stories for Bollywood this year. The spinoff of the popular web series is set to cross ₹300 crore at the global box office in under two weeks. But for lead actor Pankaj Tripathi, the real joy comes from not having to talk about the box office collections. He credits producer Ritesh Sidhwani for that approach.

Pankaj Tripathi reprises the role of Kaleen Bhaiya in Mirzapur The Movie.

Pankaj Tripathi on Ritesh Sidhwani

Mirzapur: The Movie released last week, earning over ₹100 crore worldwide in its opening weekend. But even as trade pundits emphasised on the records it was breaking, the cast kept the focus on viewer reactions. Pankaj says, “Once the film was released in theatres and the daily numbers started coming in, Ritesh’s approach was remarkable. Even as we crossed milestones, there was zero pressure from his end to project or showcase numbers across social media.”

Normally, in the age of social media, when films do well at the box office, makers often push the actors to share the collection figures from their personal social media accounts as a way to increase the buzz for the film. This has become the norm for Indian cinema since the pandemic, when the focus on box-office collections as a metric for the film’s ‘quality’ has increased.

However, Pankaj says that Ritesh Sidhwani maintained that for Mirzapur The Movie, the success should spread ‘organically’. He adds, “It was entirely his decision to let the film’s success spread organically through word of mouth instead of attempting to constantly project numbers. That mindset was really impressive and says a lot about him as a producer.”

Mirzapur The Movie box office update

Mirzapur had a solid start at the box office, crossing ₹100 crore worldwide in its opening weekend itself. But what has helped the film sustain momentum is how it avoided a big drop in collections on Monday and has since sustained some pace through the weekdays. On its 12th day (Tuesday), the film earned a solid ₹5.50 crore net in India. This takes its 12-day haul at the domestic market to ₹195 crore net ( ₹233 crore gross). In the international markets, too, the film has been successful, collecting over $5 million. Its worldwide gross stands at ₹281 crore as of Tuesday evening. Mirzapur The Movie is expected to cross the ₹300-crore mark in its third weekend.

All about Mirzapur The Movie

Presented by Amazon MGM Studios and Excel Entertainment, Mirzapur: The Movie is directed by Gurmeet Singh, written by Puneet Krishna, and produced by Ritesh Sidhwani and Farhan Akhtar under the banner of Excel Entertainment. The film is co-produced by Kassim Jagmagia and Vishal Ramchandani. Mirzapur is set for a theatrical release in Hindi and Telugu on 4 September.

The film stars Ali Fazal, Pankaj Tripathi and Divyenndu, while Jitendra Kumar takes over from Vikrant Massey, who played Bablu Pandit in the show. Ravi Kishan, Abhishek Banerjee, Rasika Dugal, Mohitt Maalik, Sheeba Chadha, Rajesh Tailang, Pramod Pathak, Shriya Pilgaonkar, Harshita Shekhar Gaur, Shweta Tripathi, and Sonal S Chauhan round off the cast.