‘Housefull 5’ cruises ahead of ‘Thug Life’ at box office, mints ₹91.83 crore in its opening weekend-OxBig News Network

A poster of ‘Housefull 5’
| Photo Credit: @NGEMovies/X

Housefull 5, the latest instalment of one of the most successful comedy franchises in Indian cinema, is cruising at top speed at the box office. The comedy caper, featuring Akshay Kumar, Abhishek Bachchan, and Riteish Deshmukh, has minted over ₹91.83 crore (nett) in its opening weekend in India.

This is far above what ace filmmaker Mani Ratnam’s Thug Life, starring veteran actor Kamal Haasan, has collected in its first four days. According to Sacnilk, the film earned merely ₹36.90 crore in its four-day opening weekend, which is far less than what even Kamal’s previous release, the widely panned Indian 2, collected in its first four days (₹62.5 crore).

Housefull 5, which was expected to face stiff competition from Thug Life, collected ₹24.35 crore on day one, ₹32.38 crore on Saturday, and ₹35.10 crore on Sunday, taking the total to ₹91.83 crore.

Directed by Tarun Mansukhani, Housefull 5 features a star-studded cast that also features Nana Patekar, Sonam Bajwa, Nargis Fakhri, Chitrangada Singh, Fardeen Khan, Chunky Pandey, Johnny Lever, Shreyas Talpade, Dino Morea, Ranjeet, Soundarya Sharma, Nikitin Dheer, and Akashdeep Sabir. Jackie Shroff and Sanjay Dutt appear in special cameos. The film is produced by Sajid Nadiadwala under the banner of Nadiadwala Grandson Entertainment.

The Hindu’s review of the film called it “entertainment for imbeciles,” stating, “Director Tarun Mansukhani falters in carrying forward the unapologetic tone set by Sajid Khan. Hailing from the Dharma school, Tarun cocks a snook at animal lovers, generates racist jokes, and lets the camera loose on the cleavage but his heavy-handed approach results in diminishing returns. It is like descending into the gutter with the confidence that the clothes will remain unspoiled. The strand of suspense thriller is more potent, but the comic element does not serve it effectively.”

Thug Life, one of the biggest Tamil films of the year, reunites Kamal and Mani Ratnam after the iconic Nayakan (1987). With music scored by A.R. Rahman, the gangster drama also stars Silambarasan T.R. in a pivotal role alongside Trisha, Nasser, Joju George, Abhirami, Bhagavathi Perumal, Ashok Selvan, Aishwarya Lekshmi, Sanya Malhotra and Ali Fazal among others. The film is produced by Kamal’s Raaj Kamal Films International and Mani Ratnam’s Madras Talkies.

The Hindu’s review of the film read, “A 163-minute chronicle of an elderly gangster’s tryst with love, destiny, guilt and death, Thug Life is a gangster crime drama with stretches so generic and cold that you might wonder if it was really the filmmaker at the helm.”