John Abraham has made his latest patriotic entry into theaters with The Diplomat, earning praise for his sincere performance from both critics and audiences. However, the film’s release coinciding with Holi may have affected its box office performance, as it started on a notably low note.Reflecting on his past Holi releases, John’s last film released during this festive period was Rocky Handsome in 2016, which opened with a box office collection of 7.6 crores, including paid previews. Unfortunately, the film did not perform well overall, finishing its lifetime earnings at just 26.41 crores.
On its opening day, The Diplomat registered an occupancy rate of 7.31% for the morning shows—a stark contrast to the last Holi release in Bollywood, Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar, which saw an impressive 89% occupancy. Even John’s previous theatrical release, Vedaa, achieved a higher occupancy rate of 15.27% during its morning shows. Expectations for The Diplomat were low, with projections the film managed to gain around 4.0 crores.
Should these numbers hold true, it would mark one of the lowest openings of the year for John, significantly lower than his previous film, Vedaa, which earned 6.75 crores on its opening day, clashing with Akshay Kumar’s Khel Khel Mein and Rajkummar Rao – Shraddha Kapoor’s Stree 2.Despite the initial setbacks, there is hope that the Holi weekend and positive word-of-mouth could help The Diplomat gain momentum at the box office. Fans and critics alike will be watching closely to see if the film can turn around its fortunes in the days to come.
Meanwhile, the leading actor of the film – John Abraham is leaving no stone unturned to promote the movie, check his latest post when he met the Indian diplomat as he shared the same on his Twitter or X handle, check the same:
Was a pleasure and honour to meet a man who I so intently follow, we discussed diplomacy, the North East and football amongst many other things. Truly an honour Sir! @DrSJaishankar @NEUtdFC #TheDiplomat https://t.co/RJGczbWuFY
— John Abraham (@TheJohnAbraham) March 13, 2025
