Siddharth Anand's second consecutive Republic Day release after Pathaan, Fighter started with a bang but might end with a whimper.
Headlined by some of Bollywood's biggest stars—Hrithik Roshan, Deepika Padukone, and Anil Kapoor—it was released on January 25 to mostly positive reviews.
Though it collected well in its initial days, it has been in a freefall since Monday and shrunk further on Wednesday.
Marketed as "India's first aerial actioner," Fighter had a lot riding on it due to Anand's previous mammoth success in the form of Pathaan.
Moreover, it's Roshan's third project with the director, the past ones being Bang Bang! and War.
However, while the film's aerial shots have been celebrated, it's been alleged to be overly jingoistic, which might have punctured its earnings.
BO numbers
Looking at 'Fighter' in numbers
Per trade tracker Sacnilk, Fighter earned Rs. 6.35cr (early estimates) on Wednesday, which has now taken its total collection to Rs. 140.35cr.
The film witnessed an overall 11.89% occupancy on Wednesday, with the maximum audience turning out during the night shows (16.32%), followed by the evening shows (12.30%).
Fighter is Padukone's third project with Anand and first with Roshan.
Fighter revolves around an Air Force unit called Air Dragons, created against a terror threat to the Srinagar base camp.
Led by Rocky (Kapoor), it includes Patty (Roshan), Minni (Padukone), Taj (Karan Singh Grover), and others.
Fighter shows the Pulwama attack by Jaish-e-Mohammed, followed by India's Balakot airstrike.
What follows is another air battle between the neighboring countries.
Anand earlier refuted the claims of Fighter being anti-Pakistan/unnecessarily jingoistic.
"I think I would call it more nationalistic than jingoistic. Some things are just being taken out of context. I would say it again watch the film first."
"I don't want to spur a lot of unnecessary controversies. Fighter is a happy Indian film. Bharat ki film hai. It's a patriotic film."
