Bambukat 2 Box Office Collections: Ammy Virk and Binnu Dhillon film has a dismal opening in India, Earns Rs. 2.50 Cr worldwide day 1

Punjabi film Bambukat 2 had a dismal opening at the Indian box office, collecting Rs. 55 lakh gross (Rs. 45 lakh nett) approx on its first day. Overseas was a slightly better, where it earned USD 200K (Rs. 1.85 crore) approx, giving it a worldwide first day number of nearly Rs. 2.50 crore.

Starring Ammy Virk and Binoo Dhillon, Bambukat 2 is the sequel to the 2016 blockbuster, Bambukat. The original film had a bumper opening of Rs. 1.60 crore (Rs. 1.48 crore nett) in India, registering the fourth biggest opening ever for a Punjabi film at the time. In comparison, the sequel has managed less than half of that figure, closer to a third, in fact, which is undeniably disappointing. 

The Punjabi film box office in India has fallen off from the highs of the 2010s, when the business was growing and sort of peaked towards the end of the decade. The quality of films aside, one of the major driving factors is demographic change. A sustained wave of emigration in the late 2010s and early 2020s has reshaped the core audience base. A large chunk of the business has shifted from India to overseas markets like Canada and Australia. It is now common for overseas collections to be multiple times higher than those in India. In contrast, pre-COVID, the business used to be more domestic-heavy, with rarely any film collecting more overseas than in India.

Additionally, the industry is facing a double whammy by missing out on some potential big grossers that have not secured a release in India due to external factors, such as featuring Pakistani artists (Sardaar Ji 3 and Chal Mera Putt 4) or facing censor issues (Punjab 95). Audiences are also not as keen on giving original films a chance as they were in the previous decade, with comedy sequels being the only ones getting traction from time to time. However, lately, even some of these comedy sequels are failing, with Bambukat 2 seemingly the latest addition to that list.