Akshay Kumar’s latest horror-comedy, Bhooth Bangla, has given him a much-needed break at the box office. As of its 19th day, it has officially made more than ₹163 crore in India. Kumar’s latest movie, which he worked on with director Priyadarshan after 14 years, has been a “clean hit,” making over ₹235 crore worldwide. The movie did well because it had a controlled production budget of about ₹120 crore and the star switched to a profit-sharing model. This helped the project make a good Return on Investment (ROI) of 36%. Bhooth Bangla has become Kumar’s third-highest-grossing film since COVID-19, behind only Housefull 5 and Sooryavanshi, even though the market is crowded with holdovers like Dhurandhar 2.
Bhooth Bangla is a clear success story, but it hasn’t yet been able to beat the huge profits of the social drama OMG 2 from 2023. OMG 2 is still Kumar’s most profitable movie, even though it only made ₹150 crore over its lifetime. This is because it only cost ₹65 crore to make. That movie made more than 130% of its cost back, which is a record that Kumar’s later big-budget movies have not been able to break. Bhooth Bangla has helped the actor’s career in the commercial horror-comedy space, but OMG 2 is still the best example of how well he can make money after the pandemic. Bhooth Bangla is on track to make ₹175 crore in its lifetime, which strengthens Kumar’s return even though it only gets the silver medal in terms of pure percentage returns.
