Box office opens festive weekend at Rs 21 crore

While 'Shivaay' had a strong presence in single screens, 'Ae Dil Hai Mushkil' was clearly skewed towards multiplexes. In terms of collections, too, 'Ae Dil Hai Mushkil' performed well in multiplexes

Starting one of the most important weekends of the year at the box office, the two Diwali releases from Bollywood — Ae Dil Hai Mushkil (ADHM) and Shivaay have raked in a combined collection of Rs 21.3 crore. 

While ADHM performed in line with expectations, collecting Rs 13.3 crore against the projection of Rs 13-15 crore), Shivaay fell a tad short with Rs 9 crore against the projection was Rs 10-12 crore.

Karan Johar-directed romance ADHM stars Ranbir Kapoor, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Anushka Sharma in lead roles with Fawad Khan in a special appearance, while the action thriller Shivaay has Ajay Devgn as the director and lead actor. Both films, made with a budget of about Rs 100 crore, were released in similar number of screens — between 2,800 and 3,000. 

While Shivaay had a strong presence in single screens, ADHM was clearly skewed towards multiplexes. In terms of collections, too, ADHM performed well in multiplexes, whereas single screens collections were better for Shivaay. 

In terms of the division of shows, ADHM has 60 per cent of the share, mainly due to its shorter length compared with Shivaay. Dharma Productions and Fox Star Studios has co-produced ADHM and on the other hand Shivaay is co-produced by Devgn, Kumar Mangat and Jayantilal Gada (Pen, a production house). 

Apoorva Mehta, CEO at Dharma Productions said, “We are thrilled and humbled with the love people are showering on Ae Dil Hai Mushkil. It is a perfect Diwali entertainer and has started on a very good note. The film has emerged as the biggest opener of Karan Johar which gives us twice the reason to celebrate.“We are overwhelmed and humbled with the response. We congratulate Karan Johar, a master of making iconic romantic movies, for his biggest opening with Ae Dil Hai Mushkil. The film is about celebrating love this Diwali and is receiving outstanding love from audiences," says Vijay Singh, CEO, Fox Star Studios.

While neither film received stellar reviews from critics, ADHM saw more positive reviews and word of mouth. ADHM is expected to continue performing in line with predictions, finishing the weekend with a collection of Rs 40-45 crore, while Shivaay is expected to rake in Rs 25-30 crore, if occupancy does not fall further.

Monday, however, is expected to be the biggest day for both films. With Diwali falling on Sunday, the occupancy at the movie halls has been hindered, as people would be indulging in festive socialising. A holiday at most offices and educational institutions, Monday, might see the highest single day collections for both films, according to analysts.