Salman Khan-starrer Bharat has entered the record books. Collecting over Rs 40 crore on its opening day, the flick has set a new Eid record!
Before Bharat, the record for biggest numbers on Eid was set by Sultan, which had collected Rs 36.54 crore. Incidentally, that was the first project for which Salman Khan and director Ali Abbas Zafar came together.
The film has benefitted hugely because of the timing of release and despite fears of collection being hit by the India-South Africa cricket match, its collections did not continued with the kind of momentum that had been set from the first show itself. Even though critics did not shower the movie with praises, there was no impact on the first day collections.
Till now, there have been only four Bollywood movies that have managed to go past the Rs 40 crore mark on the first day. Incidentally, each of these films is a Khan starrer:
- Aamir Khan's Thugs of Hindostan - Rs 52.25 crore (including Tamil and Telugu)
- Happy New Year - Rs 44.97 crore (including Tamil and Telugu)
- Bharat - Rs 42.30 crore
- Prem Ratan Dhan Payo - Rs 40.35 crore
Talking about Salman, he has been scoring centuries at a rapid pace and sits at the top of the heap with as many as 13 films in the Rs 100 crore club. Bharat is now his biggest opener ever:
- Bharat - Rs 42.30 crore
- Prem Ratan Dhan Payo - Rs 40.35 crore
- Sultan - Rs 36.54 crore
- Tiger Zinda Hai - Rs 34.10 crore
- Ek Tha Tiger - Rs 33 crore
Meanwhile, Katrina Kaif is not far behind either as she too has enjoyed huge opening for majority of her films. Her last release Zero may have been an underwhelming affair and Thugs of Hindostan wasn't exactly her movie as she had a miniscule role. However, viewers got to know about that only after Day One and by then, she had spun her magic for a huge Day One opening:
- Thugs of Hindostan - Rs 52.25 crore (including Tamil and Telugu)
- Bharat - 42.30 crore
- Dhoom: 3 - 36.22 crore (including Tamil and Telugu)
- Tiger Zinda Hai - Rs 34.10 crore
- Ek Tha Tiger - Rs 33 crore
While each of the aforementioned biggies is led by a Khan, three of these films have Salman Khan as Katrina Kaif's co-star.
As for director Ali Abbas Zafar, he has now scored a hat-trick of big opening films and each has collected in excess of Rs 30 crore on the first day. Teaming up with Salman since Sultan, he is having a dream run.
- Bharat - Rs 42.30 crore
- Sultan - Rs 36.54 crores
- Tiger Zinda Hai - Rs 34.10 crore
A huge opening like this is indeed good news for Bharat as it can consolidate from this stage. The big question is how far will the flick go from here and the collections after the five-day weekend.
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