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The Aamir Khan-Raj Kumar Hirani-Vidhu Vinod Chopra magic seems to be at work again as the trio’s latest film PK opened with a box office collection of Rs 26.63 crore net (after taxes). While it is nowhere near the record breaking numbers that some other actor-led movies have done this year, trade expectations have not been defeated by this collection.
Komal Nahta, film trade analyst, television host on ETC Bollywood Business and editor, Film Information, had tweeted “#PK 1st day all-India net collection: approx. Rs 25.6 crore. Phenomenal considering that it's a social film. Word of mouth is fantastic!!”
The movie, which also stars Anushka Sharma, Boman Irani and Sushant Singh among others, was released in 4000 screens across the country on December 19. Being a non-holiday weekend, the film was not expected to topple this year’s Diwali flick Happy New Year, which raked in Rs 44.97 crore on on opening Friday (October 24). The actor-director-producer trio had teamed up in 2009 for 3 Idiots, which went on to be the first Rs 200 crore movie from Bollywood.
Now, Aamir Khan has the distinction of starring in both the top two films with the highest opening day collection on a non-occasion/non-holiday Friday. Last year, the actor’s action thriller Dhoom 3 released on December 20 and collected Rs 36.2 crore.
The film had around 60 to 70 per cent occupancy in the first half of the day, which then increased to almost 90 per cent in the second half. Positive reviews by critics and word of mouth on social media is the main reason for the movie’s popularity. While some trade pundits are optimistic about the film’s fate on the first weekend saying it would cross the 100 crore mark with ease, others are adopting a conservative outlook and keeping the prediction at around Rs 90 crore.
However, the unanimous opinion is that the satire on godmen and the various scams they run, will have a healthy life-time and may even beat Dhoom 3’s life-time of Rs 280 crore. “The timing of the film is perfect. It will resonate with the classes and masses and I see no reason why the movie will not do well even after the first weekend,” says an analyst.
Suniel Wadhwa, independent distributor and box office analyst, says, “PK has all the ingredients to make it commercial success at box office as it connects to soul and emotions of audience. The film will have strong sustenance at the box office across multiplex and single screens. Single screens in tier-2 and -3 territories will show growth in occupancy with positive word of mouth.”
The film has been made on a budget of Rs 90 crore. The film’s satellite right have not been sold as of now. Despite this, analysts believe the film will make profit easily since it has the potential of getting steady revenues in the coming weeks in India.
Shaaminder Malik, an independent exhibitor and trade analyst for North India, says, “As expected, the film has all the ingredients to have a slow and steady business. It is expected to do around Rs 32 crore business on Saturday while Sunday, it might go as high as Rs 35 crore. Its crisp length will allow more shows to be run per screen. ”
In case of international release, the film was launched in 844 screens across North America, UK, Australia, Middle East, Pakistan and some other European countries. While reports from other countries and territories were awaited, initial reports from Australia suggest the film has made around $132,108 (Rs 83 lakh approximately) across 34 screens.
Cast: Aamir Khan, Anushka Sharma, Sushant Singh Rajput, Sanjay Dutt, Boman Irani and Saurabh Shukla
Director: Raj Kumar Hirani
Producers: Raj Kuymar Hirani, Vidhu Vinod Chopra and UTV Motion Pictures
Budget: Rs 90 crore
Release scale: 4,000 screens in India and 844 overseas
First day average occupancy across shows and territories: 80-85%
First day collection in India: Rs 26.63 crore
First day collection in Australia: Rs 83 lakh (approximately)
Prediction for Saturday: Rs 30-32 crore
Prediction for Sunday: Rs 34-35 crore
