Two of the much anticipated Bollywood movies of 2019 – Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi and Thackeray – are going to release on this Friday, January 24, 2019. It is ought to be a big clash this time. On one hand, Kangana starrer has a massive star cast, great sets and costumes and on the other hand, Nawazuddin starrer will be backed by himself, mostly. (check: Thackeray review.)
Both the upcoming films – Thackeray and Manikarnika have been through many controversies, ups and downs, and cinematic storms. Kangana’s film brings us the bravery and ebullience of Rani Lakshmi Bai while Nawazuddin’s movie depicts the life Shiv Sena founder Bala Sahab Thackeray. The trailers of both the flicks have left viewers awestruck. The songs and dialogue promos which were released over the course of time, have increased the buzz around the films.
Manikarnika marks the directorial debut of Kangana Ranaut and it’s a mega-project after the debacle of her last two films – Rangoon and Simran. Nawazuddin Siddiqui is coming to this film after getting critically-acclamation for his performance in Manto and Netflix series – Sacred Games. So, a lot of things are going on with the two unconventional stars of the Hindi movie industry as far as their upcoming releases are concerned.
The budget on which Manikarnika has been made is a whopping total of Rs 100 crore. But, Thackeray required only a moderate budget and got completed in only Rs 30 cr. As per the expectations, both the movies should drive viewers out of their homes and attract them to theaters as it is going to be a long weekend with Saturday being Republic Day.
As far as 1st day collections of Manikarnika and Thackeray are concerned, they should open to around Rs 10-15 cr and Rs 4-5 crores respectively. There is no denying that Kangana starrer would overtake Nawazuddin starrer at the box office. But, it will still be interesting to see if they would be able to recover their investments. If yes, then in how many days?
