‘Detective Ujjwalan’ box office collections day 20: Dhyan Sreenivasan’s film dips; mints Rs 6.84 crores

After a decent start and a steady run in its early days, Dhyan Sreenivasan’s investigative comedy thriller ‘Detective Ujjwalan’ is now witnessing a noticeable dip in box office numbers.

The film, which blends humour with suspense, has collected Rs 6.84 crore globally as of Day 20, with Rs 6.33 crore from its domestic net collections.Gradual Decline in Daily EarningsAccording to the Sacnilk website, the drop in footfalls over the past week reflects the film's waning momentum. From earning Rs 85 lakhs on its opening day and Rs 78 lakhs on Day 2, the film peaked early and began to slow down after its first weekend. By Day 10, collections dropped to Rs 20 lakhs and have continued on a downward trajectory since. The last five days have seen particularly low figures — Rs 13 lakhs on Day 16, Rs 14 lakhs on Day 15, and only Rs 4 lakhs on Day 20.While the early buzz around the film helped boost its initial box office performance, sustained traction has proven difficult, especially in the face of new releases and mixed audience word-of-mouth.

No Final Verdict Yet, But Overall Performance SteadyDespite the dip, ‘Detective Ujjwalan’ has managed to cross Rs 6 crore in India, a respectable feat for a regional film with a niche genre appeal. ETimes gave the movie a rating of 2.5 star out of 5 and our official review reads, “There are some rules that a detective story needs to make it work and for the effect to stay with us. Some red herrings that will confuse the audience so that we are emotionally and intellectually caught up in the story, a detective who uses logic that will baffle us with its brilliance and a final revelation of the culprit that will shock us.

Detective Ujjwalan does not use any of these devices in a forceful enough manner. The period settings are interesting and the village characters are loveable enough, though some of the superb comic talents from social media, Ameen, Nihal Nizam, Nibraz and Shahubas, are barely utilised. The film seems to go in the direction of most Dhyan films; a bit of an anti-climax.”