Director Anubhav Sinha's Assi has taken a quiet start at the box office, earning an estimated Rs 0.5 crore India net on its opening day, according to early data from Sacnilk.
The courtroom drama recorded an overall 5.56% Hindi occupancy on Friday, with a clear jump in footfall as the day moved from morning to afternoon.
The film began with a 3.88% occupancy in the morning shows, which improved to 7.24% in the afternoon, indicating that a section of the target audience stepped in later in the day. The evening and night trends will play a key role in shaping the final Day 1 total.
In terms of regional performance, Chennai emerged as the top-performing centre with 20% occupancy, though this came from just 19 shows, pointing to strong interest in a limited release. Bhopal followed with 14% occupancy from 22 shows, showing a sharp spike in the afternoon after a slow start in the morning. Among the bigger markets, Hyderabad recorded 7.5% from 94 shows, while Pune saw 7% across 124 shows, suggesting comparatively better traction in these centres.
The major metropolitan circuits reported moderate turnout. Mumbai registered 6% occupancy from 320 shows, and NCR stood at 5.5% despite the highest show count of 422, indicating that the film is yet to see significant footfall in its primary multiplex belts. Bengaluru also recorded 5.5% from 156 shows, while Ahmedabad remained at 5% with 154 shows. At the lower end, Kolkata saw 4%, and Surat reported the weakest response at 2.5%.
Taapsee Pannu plays Advocate Raavi, who fights a sensitive sexual harassment case while facing legal and social challenges, with the title Assi referring to the average 80 rape complaints reported daily in India.
Anubhav Sinha has previously stated that he does not want the film to be judged by box office numbers alone, calling such figures “good gossip” and emphasising that the conversation the film starts is more important.
With a niche subject and a serious tone, Assi will now depend on strong word of mouth over the weekend to show any significant growth at the box office.
The Day 1 numbers point to a slow opening, but the steady improvement from morning to afternoon shows hints that audience response over the next two days will be decisive for its box office trend.
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