The tag of ‘Khooni Monday’ became quite a rage after being used in a song in Go Goa Gone. What’s interesting, however, is that just like everyone else, even our Bollywood folks find Mondays dreadful. Wonder why?
The first weekend of every film these days is considered to be the high-priority period. Reason being that a film stands to do maximum business on the first three days of its release – namely Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Mondays, however, are the true litmus test for even the biggest of the releases as the drop in the business determines the run of a film through the remaining days of the week.
In this analytical report, we compare the box office collections of first Friday with first Monday, to see how the movie held on the litmus test day — and Mahavatar Narsimha has emerged as one of the most surprising outliers in recent years.
Released alongside Sarzameen in theatres and Mandala Murders on Netflix, Mahavatar Narsimha opened with modest collections of Rs. 1.46 crore. Yet, against all odds, the film witnessed a phenomenal surge in numbers on its first Monday, collecting Rs. 3.89 crore — a massive 166.44% jump over its Day 1 figure.
Such a Monday boost is practically unheard of in today’s box office climate, where even the biggest tentpole films struggle to maintain weekend momentum. In fact, the last time a film registered this kind of weekday spike was during the historic run of The Kashmir Files, which saw an unprecedented 323.94% growth on its first Monday — from Rs. 3.55 crore on Friday to Rs. 15.05 crore.
With this, Mahavatar Narsimha has now secured its place as the film with the second-highest Monday growth rate ever in Hindi cinema. To put this into perspective, other notable films that posted high Monday gains include Swatantrya Veer Savarkar (95.45%), Housefull 4 (93.94%), Dolly Ki Doli (78.04%), HanuMan (70.71%), and Shivaay (69.43%).
Even relatively recent box office performers like Madgaon Express and Baby managed 66.87% and 60.22% increases, respectively, while Ek Tha Tiger, backed by major star power and an Independence Day release week, grew by 60%. Despite their scale and budgets, none came close to the 166% mark crossed by Mahavatar Narsimha.
What makes this feat even more impressive is the film’s initial reception. With a quiet release and minimal marketing buzz, Mahavatar Narsimha had little going for it apart from word-of-mouth and spiritual intrigue. Yet, this very organic chatter seems to have propelled audiences into theatres, turning the film into a sleeper hit in the making.
At a time when mainstream commercial cinema continues to experience volatile weekday drops — as evidenced by the sharp Monday crashes of big-budget films like Badass Ravi Kumar and Housefull 5 — the success of Mahavatar Narsimha offers a powerful reminder: content still has the last word at the box office.
Whether the film can sustain this momentum over the coming days remains to be seen, but one thing is clear — this Monday wasn’t “Khooni” for Mahavatar Narsimha. It was a breakthrough.