MSG: The Messenger Of God Box Office Collections, MSG: The Messenger Of God collects 100 Crore, MSG Total Box Office Collections
With his movie ‘MSG: The Messenger Of God’ box office collections, godman Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Insan (Guru ji), who has a massive following of devotees in northern parts of the country, has generated magic numbers – if reports are to be believed, they have ridden roughshod over Ranbir Kapoor’s ‘Roy’.
‘MSG: The Messenger of God’ box office collections have raked in nearly Rs 90 crore – a massive lead over Ranbir Kapoor’s ‘Roy’ – both were released simultaneously.
Hardly a week into its release, the film ‘MSG: The Messenger Of God’ has become the biggest blockbuster of the year, grossing more than Rs 89.29 crore in first six days, according to unconfirmed reports.
After a spat with the Censor Board, ‘MSG: The Messenger Of God’ released in more than 4,000 screens across the country last Friday. In fact, all nine daily screenings of the film at the PVR outlet in Delhi’s Select Citywalk were completely booked in advance, and there had been three lakh bookings across PVR outlets in Delhi-NCR.
“This is an unprecedented response. Usually we have 5-6 daily shows for a movie but seeing the response, we increased the shows,” said a PVR spokesperson had said.
On the eve of its release, ardent followers had also gathered at PVR Cinema in Select Citywalk in the national capital for an exclusive premiere of “Guruji’s movie”.’
Gautam Dutta, CEO, PVR Ltd, pointed out, “MSG: The Messenger of God opened well. It capitalised on Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh’s immense fan following and maintained an occupancy of 70 per cent.”
Though the Punjab government imposed a ban on the film in the state, in Chandigarh and Panchkula, the film was reportedly screened 73 times on the opening day. The movie also released in more than 500 screens abroad, according Dera Sacha Sauda workers.
In ‘MSG: The Messenger Of God’, the Dera chief is seen tackling the drug menace, among other crimes, in the country. In one of the scenes, he is shown taking on people who are attacking his ashram. In another, he is shown flying through the air and fighting off 100 sword-wielding attackers and taking them out with just a single punch.
But there have been several conflicting reports concerning the business generated by MSG.
MSG was one of the two Bollywood movies released on the eve of Valentine’s Day and the mood was obviously optimistic, what with controversy and the godman adding to the ultimate lure of the movie, but there are many who have taken an open stance against the movie’s successful-at-the-box-office rating.
Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh-starrer failed at its attempt at self promotion, said one trade analyst. Another analyst said, “MSG… unexpectedly failed to impress viewers and performed far below its maker’s expectations.”
Manoj Desai of G7 Cinemas in Mumbai said, “With an average occupancy of about 50 per cent, MSG has also not done well.”
Exhibitor and distributor, Akshaye Rathi, too said the movie was not impressive, but qualified that statement. He attributed the average box office collections fate of film to an ongoing cash crunch in the market.
“The response to ‘MSG: The Messenger of God’ has been okay, but people watching it are mostly Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh’s followers,” explained Rathi.