Sunny Deol’s ‘Batwara 1947’ clashed with Emraan Hashmi’s ‘Awarapan 2’ at the box office over the Independence Day weekend, with the romantic drama pulling ahead in collections compared to the Partition drama. Director Rajkumar Santoshi has now addressed whether the clash affected his film’s box office performance.
Rajkumar Santoshi on clash with ‘Awarapan 2’
In an interview with Moneycontrol, Rajkumar Santoshi was asked whether the clash with ‘Awarapan 2’ impacted ‘Batwara 1947’s box office numbers. He chose not to point fingers at the competing film and instead congratulated the ‘Awarapan 2’ team.He said, “Main mubarak bad doonga (I would congratulate them), I will say it again. ‘Awarapan 2’ has been liked, appreciated by the people and it is an excellent business. I really congratulate Emraan Hashmi, Mukesh Bhatt sahab, Vishesh Bhatt and his son. I congratulate the entire team of ‘Awarapan 2’.”
More about ‘Batwara 1947’
‘Batwara 1947’ had a tough first week at the box office amid the clash. According to trade website Sacnilk, the Sunny Deol-starrer collected around Rs 32.41 crore net in India by Day 7, with a noticeable drop in collections following its opening weekend.Directed by Rajkumar Santoshi, the film also features Shabana Azmi, Karan Deol, Ali Fazal, Abhimanyu Singh, Khushi Hajare, Kanikka Kapur and Isha Sandhir alongside the lead pair. Sunny Deol and Santoshi have previously collaborated on successful films such as ‘Ghayal’, ‘Damini’ and ‘Ghatak’.
More about ‘Awarapan 2’
Directed by Nitin Kakkar, ‘Awarapan 2’ continues the story of the 2007 cult classic ‘Awarapan’. The film stars Emraan Hashmi in the lead role, with Disha Patani as Zara, Shabana Azmi as Nafisa Nawaz and Suvinder Vicky. Shriya Saran and Shaad Randhawa also make special appearances in the film.Both movies arrived in theatres on August 14, 2026.
