Khel Khel Mein, the comedy-drama featuring Akshay Kumar, Fardeen Khan, Taapsee Pannu, and Vaani Kapoor, opened in theaters on Independence Day. Directed by Muddasir Aziz, the film faced tough competition at the box office, going head-to-head with John Abraham’s Vedaa and the eagerly awaited horror-comedy sequel Stree 2, starring Shraddha Kapoor and Rajkummar Rao. While Stree 2 dominated the box office with a whopping Rs 54 crore in total, including earnings from Wednesday previews, Khel Khel Mein struggled to gain momentum, earning just Rs 5 crore on its opening day.
On its first day, Khel Khel Mein managed an overall Hindi occupancy rate of 40.26 percent, with the majority of the audience attending night shows. In Mumbai, the film was shown in 352 screens, achieving an occupancy rate of 45.25 percent, while in Delhi and NCR, with 421 screens, the occupancy was slightly better at 50.5 percent.
Despite the slow start, Khel Khel Mein outperformed Akshay Kumar’s recent releases such as Sarfira (Rs 2.4 crore), Mission Raniganj (Rs 2.8 crore), Selfiee (Rs 2.5 crore), and BellBottom (Rs 2.7 crore) on its first day. However, the film’s momentum did not pick up on its second day.
On Day 2, Khel Khel Mein saw a significant drop in its earnings, collecting only Rs 1.90 crore India net. This brings the film’s total collection to an estimated Rs 6.95 crore over two days. The decline in revenue indicates that the film is struggling to attract a broader audience, especially given the strong performance of its competitors.
Produced by Bhushan Kumar, Krishan Kumar, Vipul D. Shah, Ashwin Varde, Rajesh Bahl, Shashikant Sinha, and Ajay Rai, Khel Khel Mein features a star-studded cast, including Ammy Virk, Pragya Jaiswal, and Aditya Seal in pivotal roles. Despite the star power and high expectations, the film will need a significant boost in the coming days to improve its box office performance.
