Rani Mukerji’s Film Scores Better Than ‘Zwigato’

Rani Mukerji’s new Hindi film Mrs Chatterjee Vs Norway has made a total of $0.78 million over the first weekend of its release while popular comedian Kapil Sharma’s film – Nandita Das’ Hindi movie Zwigato – has collected $0.22 million in India in the first three days of the release. Both the films are made on a small budget and released in limited screens across India. While Zwigato released in 409 screens in India, Mrs Chatterjee Vs Norway released across 535 screens, on Friday, March 17.

Mrs Chatterjee Vs Norway earned $0.15 million on the opening day. Mukerji’s film collected $0.27 on Saturday and $0.34 million on Sunday in the country. As per the production house, Mrs Chatterjee Vs Norway made $1.2 million worldwide over the first weekend.

Last weekend’s Hindi films released in limited screens in India and do not have huge numbers to boast, but both are being widely appreciated by critics. Mrs Chatterjee Vs Norway is based on Sagarika Chakaraborty’s book The Journey of a Mother – the real life story of an Indian family that had to fight with the Norwegian government for more than a year before they could get back the custody of their own children.

Directed by Ashima Chibber (who directed the 2013 Hindi film Mere Dad Ki Maruti), Mrs Chatterjee Vs Norway revolves around Debika (Mukerji), an immigrant mother, and her emotional and legal troubles. Anirban Bhattacharya essays the role of her husband while Jim Sarbh (of Neerja, Padmaavat fame) and Neena Gupta (Badhai Ho, Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron fame) also appear in guest roles. Sarbh plays a lawyer while Gupta essays the role of an Indian politician in the film. The film has its flaws but manages to keep the audience on the edge with the nail-biting storyline and some brilliant performances by Mukerji.

On the other hand, Das’ Zwigato is based in a small town in India and tells the story of family struggling with daily needs after the man lost his job has started working with a food delivery app as a delivery boy. Sharma plays the man while plays his wife. Gul Panag and Sayani Gupta also make guest appearances in the film.

Sharma’s latest movie made an opening collection of $51,000 in India and the collections rose on Saturday to $75,080. The film earned $95,663 on Sunday in the country.

Zwigato does not follow a typical storyline neither does it offer surprises or twists in the narrative. The everyday struggles, authentic portrayal of the common Indian lives and power-packed performances by Sharma, and his co-star Shahana Goswami (who plays his wife) ensure that the audience stays hooked on to the movie.

The Hollywood film Shazam Fury of Gods also released the same weekend and has had a decent run at the ticket windows in India, collecting roughly $1.2 million over the first weekend. Chief Programming Officer at PVR INOX Ltd Rajender Singh Jyala says in a press statement, “Zachary Levi never fails to wow the viewers with his on-screen presence and Shazam! Fury of Gods proves the point again. The superhero sequel has the audiences flocking the theatres since the day of its release. With its top-notch performances and cinematic visuals, the movie is a definite treat for superhero fanatics across all fandoms. We are sure that the movie would keep up the momentum in the coming days.”

Compared to the 2019 film Shazam, the India collections for the new film are rather disappointing. Shazam The Fury of God has had similarly dismal performance at the US and global box office, earning $30.5 million in the US.