Chand Mera Dil Day 1 Advance Booking: 32,000+ Tickets Sold As CBFC Clears Extended Cut With 8 New Scenes

Lakshya and Ananya Panday's upcoming love story, Chand Mera Dil, is all set for its theatrical release this Friday. However, just hours before it hits the big screen, there is a major update regarding its duration. According to an exclusive report by Bollywood Hungama, the film has now become roughly 11 minutes longer than its original censor cut.

The Central Board of Film Certification had initially cleared the movie with a runtime of 135.36 minutes on May 8. But on May 20, the producers went back to the board to include some extra footage they had voluntarily added. The CBFC has now passed an extended version that includes eight new scenes. These additions range from short clips to a significant sequence in the first half lasting nearly four minutes. This brings the final runtime of the film to 145.53 minutes, or 2 hours and 25 minutes.

This Vivek Soni directorial, produced by Karan Johar and Dharma Productions, is looking to attract a wide audience with a very aggressive pricing strategy on its opening day. As previously shared by Bollywood Hungama, tickets for all shows on May 22 before 5:00 PM are priced at just 149 rupees. For evening shows starting after 5:00 PM, the price will be a flat 199 rupees. This move is clearly intended to boost the initial footfalls across the country.

Looking at the advance booking numbers for the opening day, the national chains are showing decent traction. In the three major multiplexes—PVR, INOX, and Cinepolis—the film has already sold roughly 32,270 tickets. PVR leads the way with about 15,380 tickets, followed by INOX with 10,900 and Cinepolis with 5,990 tickets. This has resulted in a gross of approximately 64.20 lakh rupees from these chains alone, with PVR contributing 31.60 lakh, INOX adding 20.85 lakh, and Cinepolis bringing in 11.75 lakh.

Despite the release being just around the corner, advance bookings in several Mumbai theaters and other regions faced some minor delays. The change in runtime forced theater programmers to restructure their show schedules at the last minute to accommodate the longer version. Additionally, exhibitors have noted that the unexpected success of the Marathi film Deool Band 2 has created a bit of a scheduling challenge in certain pockets where it is performing exceptionally well.

While most cinemas have now opened their bookings, the team behind Chand Mera Dil has reportedly been very flexible with exhibitors regarding the show counts. With Lakshya and Ananya Panday leading this romantic drama, the focus is now on how this extended cut will perform under these competitive conditions. Fans of the genre will be hoping that the added 11 minutes bring even more depth to this highly anticipated love story.