Director Anubhav Sinha’s courtroom drama Assi had a subdued start at the Indian box office, collecting an estimated ₹0.5 crore net on its opening day, according to early figures from Sacnilk.
The film recorded an overall Hindi occupancy of 5.56% on Friday, with footfalls gradually improving as the day progressed. Morning shows opened with just 3.88% occupancy, which rose to 7.24% during afternoon screenings, suggesting that a section of the target audience opted for later showtimes. The evening and night performance is expected to influence the final Day 1 total.
Among regional markets, Chennai emerged as the best-performing centre with 20% occupancy, although this was based on only 19 shows, indicating strong interest in a limited release. Bhopal followed with 14% occupancy from 22 shows, with a noticeable surge in afternoon footfall after a slow morning. Hyderabad and Pune performed relatively better among larger centres, recording 7.5% and 7% occupancy respectively.
Major metropolitan markets saw moderate turnout. Mumbai registered 6% occupancy across 320 shows, while the National Capital Region (NCR) recorded 5.5% despite hosting the highest number of shows at 422. Bengaluru also stood at 5.5% from 156 shows, and Ahmedabad reported 5% from 154 shows. On the lower end, Kolkata recorded 4% occupancy, while Surat saw the weakest response at 2.5%.
Taapsee Pannu plays Advocate Raavi in Assi, a lawyer fighting a sensitive sexual harassment case while confronting legal and social challenges. The title Assi refers to the reported average of 80 rape complaints filed daily in India, underlining the film’s hard-hitting subject matter.
Earlier, Anubhav Sinha had said that he does not want the film to be judged solely on box office performance, calling box office numbers “good gossip” and stressing that the conversation the film sparks is more important.
With its niche subject and serious tone, Assi now hinges on strong word of mouth over the weekend to pick up momentum. While Day 1 numbers indicate a slow opening, the steady improvement from morning to afternoon shows suggests that audience reception over the next two days will be crucial for its box office trajectory.