Independence Day sentiment fails to lift Sunny Deol’s ‘Partition 1947’
The difference between the two films was clearly visible from the advance booking figures itself. “Awarapan 2” earned an advance booking of approximately ₹8 crore on its opening day, compared to ₹1.76 crore for “Partition 1947.” Despite positive reviews from critics and strong performances by Sunny Deol and Shabana Azmi, the film failed to attract audiences to theaters.
Meanwhile, the sequel to “Awarapan,” released in 2007, appeared to benefit from Emraan Hashmi’s popular character Shivam Pandit and the fan following generated by the first film’s music.
Interestingly, in 2007, the first “Awarapan” and Sunny Deol’s “Apne” faced off at the box office. Emraan Hashmi’s film lagged behind in that competition, but 19 years later, “Awarapan 2” surpassed Sunny Deol’s film by a significant margin on its opening day.
Directed by Nitin Kakkar, “Awarapan 2” also stars Disha Patani in a key role. On the other hand, “Partition 1947” stars Sunny Deol alongside Shabana Azmi, Preity Zinta, and Karan Deol. Sunny Deol’s previous blockbuster hits, “Gadar 2” and “Border 2,” had strong openings of ₹40 crore and ₹32 crore, respectively, but “Partition 1947” failed to reach that level.
