Thank you businessofcinema.com for providing so many numbers to me!  There are a few interesting things going on in the local and global box office, going into Airlift weekend.

Airlift, and Republic Day, will put an end to the traditional Christmas season releases, as the screens are given over to patriotic rather than family friendly films.  Meaning this is expected to be the last big week, and final box office projections are rolling out for Wazir, Dilwale, and Bajirao.

Read on to learn more.

(first reports on Airlift box office here)

I know Dilwale is what most people care about, and it’s what I care about the most, so let’s start with that!  Bajirao has consistently beat it in India every week since the first, but that big lead from the opening weekend is still giving Dilwale a total estimate of Rs. 139.79 crore, of which 95.37 coming from the opening weekend alone.  Before it leaves most theaters this Friday, it is projected to end with a total of 158 crore.

Bajirao is in the lead, with 185.16 crore, and another 2 crore or so projected this week.  However, what I find interesting, is as of the 5th weekend, they are doing about the same business.  Dilwale started with a strong lead due to the star factor in the first weekend.  Bajirao picked up through word of mouth over the next few weeks, and now that everyone has seen them once, about the same number of people are dribbling in for a repeat view in the 5th week.

But in worldwide, again, it is a whole different picture.  In worldwide collections, Dilwale takes the lead by 20 crore, 355 to 335.  And it is rapidly coming up on the record set a few months ago by Prem Ratan Dhan Payo, which would make it the 2nd highest earning worldwide film of the year, and the 5th over all, behind Bajrangi Bhaijaan, Dhoom 3, Chennai Express, and 3 Idiots.  Meanwhile, Bajirao has left theaters in most global markets already.  And it Bajirao never really played as broadly, especially among the diaspora market, as Dilwale did.  Globally, Dilwale is winning through staying power and range.

Now, on to Wazir!  The forgotten third child of the Christmas market, who looks to be knocked off along with its big brothers as Airlift arrives to hit that Republic Day patriotism sweet spot.

Wazir is not doing so great.  It had a slow opening weekend, there was a little pick-up in the next few days thanks to word of mouth (which was trumpeted by the films publicity machine, and on Amitabh’s personal twitter), but it is still looking like a bare break even.  Especially because it is the film most likely to be damaged by Airlift.  While Bajirao and Dilwale may be able to keep limping along for a few more weeks, picking up the family audience and romance fans who may be less interested in a patriotic Akshay epic, Wazir is going after the same action, plot, “serious movie about serious things” kind of audience that Akshay will be hitting.

And, based on the good response to trailers, soundtrack, and promotions, Airlift is looking like it will knock Wazir out completely.

(if you are curious about the content of any of these films, a full summary of Wazir is available here, for Dilwale here, for Bajirao here, and I will be posting one for Airlift within a week, so check back!)