Rs 30 crore on day one: Dangal off to a promising start

Rs 30 crore on day one: Dangal off to a promising start The Aamir Khan-starrer clocked Rs 30 crore on its opening day in India

Disney India’s latest release Breaking News : Dangal has clocked Rs 29.8 crore on opening in India, thanks to the Christmas weekend. The film, directed by Nitesh Tiwari, is

the story of wrestlers Geeta and Babita Phogat (played by Sanya Malhotra and Fatima Sana Shaikh) and their relationship with their father, also a wrestler, Mahavir Singh Phogat(played by Aamir Khan).

Dangal was released across 4,300 screens in India on Friday, followed by its overseas

release in the US, Gulf and the UK on Wednesday. The opening trend in India is in line with the global one, as it collected close to a million dollars from the UK, the US and Gulf market on its opening day.

Occupancy rates on Friday were healthy and collections are expected to jump by 25 to 30% on Saturday, and sustain the growth on Sunday. By trade estimates, the film should cross Rs 100 crore in the first three days, in India only.

Western territories of Maharashtra and Gujarat contributed as expected to the collections.

In addition, the Bihar and heartland belt saw traction, too, while the South Indian dubs contributed nearly Rs 60 lakh in collection. The film was released in Hindi with Tamil and Telugu dubs (nearly 250 screens).

Made at a budget of Rs 75 crore, the film needs to make Rs 150 crore to break-even and book profits. Given the opening trend, this should be achieved in the first week itself.

Trade experts say the collections would sustain in the upcoming weeks, with the next weekend being the New Year’s eve.

Estimates peg the effect of demonetisation has played a role, but not to the extent as it was feared. Trade pundits put the collection impact of demonetisation at around 10% (which translates to a loss in the collection to Rs 3 crore).

Article Source : Business Standard