India – Vivek Agnihotri’s latest film The Bengal Files opened with a modest collection of around ₹1.75 crore, marking a slow start compared to expectations from the third film in the director’s Files series. Despite significant pre-release buzz, the film’s performance on day one suggests a challenging road ahead at the box office.

Industry trackers highlighted that the film’s opening numbers were lower than those of other recent releases. Himesh Reshammiya’s Badass Ravi Kumar reportedly earned close to ₹3 crore on its debut, surpassing The Bengal Files despite being a relatively smaller production.

The comparison with Agnihotri’s earlier project The Kashmir Files has also drawn attention. That film, which released to strong word-of-mouth, had registered a higher opening and went on to become a sleeper hit. In contrast, The Bengal Files has not been able to match that momentum, at least in its initial outing.

Analysts believe the film’s long-term performance will depend heavily on weekend footfall and audience reviews. While some political dramas have shown steady growth in later days, the competition from mainstream entertainers such as action films remains a hurdle.

The underwhelming start points to unpredictable audience preferences in the current market, where only select films are managing to translate attention into strong collections. The coming days will be crucial in determining whether The Bengal Files can recover ground and find stability at the box office.