Will the REAL Brahmastra box-office numbers please stand up? #TradeTalk

Different sources have mentioned different box-office figures for Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt’s Brahmastra. Trade experts speak to IndiaToday.in about the film’s actual performance at the ticket windows.

Brahmastra, starring Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt, opened in theatres on September 9 amidst fanfare. Dharma Productions soon shared that it collected Rs 75 crore at the worldwide box office on its first day and finally ended Bollywood's dry spell. Some websites, however, claimed that Brahmastra had raked in only around Rs 37 crore on its opening day. This discrepancy left fans confused. So, is Brahmastra really doing well at the box office? Let’s find out.

The confusion around Brahmastra's box office numbers stemmed from the fact that there are two different yardsticks for assessing a film’s box office performance. Brahmastra producers shared the film’s worldwide gross collection on social media. Most trade websites, on the other hand, posted the domestic net figures.

While the two terms are often used interchangeably, there is a major difference between them. The net figure is usually calculated by deducting taxes from the gross total.

“The gross figure is a reflection of how much a film made at the ticket window through the sale of tickets. Net is usually calculated after deducting state and central GST from the total. Then, in Tamil Nadu, we also have the Local Body Entertainment Tax,” tracker Ramesh Bala tells IndiaToday.In

Most trade websites use net collections as the yardstick for measuring a film’s performance.

“In India, we talk about net collection to avoid any confusion on account of different tax slabs and changes in the distributor share arrangement,” says trade analyst Joginder Tuteja.

That said, there is nothing wrong in sharing the gross collections of a film, feels trade analyst Komal Nahta.