Three films share the Independence Day weekend

The Independence Day corridor is the most crowded window of the second half. Sunny Deol's Batwara 1947 lists on 13 August, followed a day later by Varun Dhawan's Bhediya 2 and Emraan Hashmi's Awarapan 2, with Salman Khan's Maatrubhumi arriving on 15 August itself.

Four films of this size across three days is unusual even for a holiday weekend, and the trade expects at least one to move. Screen allocation will decide the outcome more than word of mouth: whoever holds the multiplex morning shows on 15 August takes the weekend.

Bhediya 2 continues Maddock's horror-comedy universe, which has been the most reliable franchise in Hindi cinema over the last three years.