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Salman Khan's pull at the box office has been reaffirmed with the opening-day collections of his latest action flick Kick surpassing industry expectations. The movie, Khan's second release of the year, raked in Rs 26.4 crore (net) in India on the first day of release. This figure outshines the trade estimate of Rs 22-24 crore.
Not only is Kick's opening day collection the highest in the year so far, it is also the second highest non-holiday collection for a Bollywood release. The highest non-holiday collection was clocked by Dhoom 3 last December which released on the weekend before Christmas, raking in Rs 33.42 crore (Hindi version).
Khan's earlier outing this year, Jai Ho, failed to live up to expectations, collecting Rs 17 crore on the first day against the expected Rs 20 crore. Its lifetime collection too fell short of market expectations at Rs 117 crore.
Despite being released on the last weekend of the holy month of Ramadan, the movie ran to full houses in many multiplexes and single screen theatres, especially in the evening shows. Analysts believe the collections could have surpassed that of Dhoom 3 had it been released on the day of Eid.
The film has been is produced and directed by Sajid Nadiadwala and is marketed and distributed by UTV Motion Pictures, a part of the Disney Company in India. Kick received the widest release for a Bollywood movie with 4,000 screens in India and 700 screens abroad. It has been subtitled in seven languages and will be released in more than 42 countries in a phased manner.
The film is expected to continue to do well over the weekend, with Eid being the peak collection day. "Kick is what you would call a complete entertainer. It packs some punch and ticks all the boxes for a good entertaining film. Its run will continue to be good, kwith record collections expected on Eid," says box office analyst and film critic Taran Adrash.
The movie has opened well not only in India but also in North America with collection of $340,000 (Rs 2.04 crore), which is the highest opening for a Salman movie overseas till date. In the UK, Kick raked in $118,616 (Rs 71.24 lakh) while in Australia, it collected $61,921 (Rs 37.19 lakh). In West Asia, a stronghold of the Khans of Bollywood, the box office collections totalled $272,000 (Rs 1.63 crore) on the opening day.
Kick is expected to continue to do well in the run up to Eid also in territories like the US, UK and West Asia which house a sizeable population of Indians and Pakistanis.
Industry estimates peg the cost incurred by UTV Motion Pictures in acquiring and marketing the film at close to Rs 100 crore. Box office collections will be the major source of revenue in this case, since the satellite fees for the movie will go to Khan, according to his contract with STAR India. In 2012, STAR India signed a contract with Salman, acquiring the broadcast rights of eight films at Rs 50 crore each.
SUCCESS ON SILVER SCREEN
- Cost of production, marketing and distribution Rs 100 cr
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First-day collection
Rs 26.4 crore India
Rs 4.74 crore overseas - Cast: Salman Khan, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Randeep Hooda, Jacqueline Fernandez
- Director: Sajid Nadiawala
- Co-producers: Sajid Nadiadwala Grandsons and UTV Motion Pictures
