This Diwali, Akshay Kumar fans are in for a treat as the fourth instalment of his hit comedy franchise Housefull releases two days before the festival. The film backed by an ensemble cast including Riteish Deshmukh, Bobby Deol, Kriti Sanon, Pooja Hegde, Kriti Kharbanda and others, is looking for a grand opening at the ticket counters. It is expected to woo the audience who look for some family time at the movies around the festive season of Diwali.

Film trade analyst Girish Johar believes the Farhad Samji directorial will have a good run in the theaters, courtesy Kumar’s fandom and popularity of the franchise among the audience. He said, “Housefull 4 is the biggest release of Diwali. Everyone would want to have joyous family time around the festival and the Akshay Kumar starrer perfectly gels with their current mood. The buzz is also good and they have gone all out to promote the film. So, it all looks positive for Housefull 4. The film has ticked all the right boxes.”

According to Girish, the Housefull franchise has been a hit in the past and it’s a comedy entertainer that is usually loved by the family audience. He pegged the film’s day one collection around Rs 18-20 crore and hinted at pre-Diwali release hampering the film’s performance at the box office a little.

Housefull 4 is releasing two days ahead of Diwali along with Taapsee Pannu-Bhumi Pednekar’s Saand Ki Aankh and Rajkummar Rao’s Made In China. Johar believes this might hinder the collection of the three films at least on opening day. “It is a pre-Diwali release for all the three films when everyone would be busy with pre-Diwali festivities. So, I think, after a decent start on Friday, their business will pick up from Monday onwards since it’s after Diwali that people get free and get time to watch movies,” he suggested.

Also read | Inside Housefull 4’s ‘Promotion on Wheels’

Considering the performance of Akshay Kumar at the box office, the actor has already registered hits to his name this year with Mission Mangal and Kesari. Mission Mangal with an opening of Rs 29.16 crore also became the biggest opener of Kumar’s career. The film benefitted from the Independence Day holiday. Now, if Housefull 4 will get close to Mission Mangal’s performance or not will be known in the coming days.