The box office collections jumped to Rs 4.5 crore on the opening weekend thanks to word of mouth

It was a film that its producers UTV had no faith in. Even though Tigmanshu Dhulia’s Paan Singh Tomar, starring India’s best actor Irrfan, had won plaudits internationally, including sold out screenings at the London Film Festival, UTV dragged their feet on the film’s release. They kept postponing it until perhaps swayed by the critical, if not commercial, reception accorded to Dhulia’s Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster, they decided to take the plunge and release the film. The release was at best a low-key affair. Almost nothing was spent on marketing and publicity and the film went out on a scant 300 screens, an aberration these days where thousands are the norm. Paan Singh Tomar was up against Fox’s London Paris New York, an aggressively marketed and positively reviewed film in the relatively safe rom-com genre as opposed to a biopic. Click here to read more