Ranbir Kapoor-starrer 'Sanju' collects Rs 1.2 billion in the first weekend

After a better than anticipated opening of Rs 347.5 million on Friday, Ranbir Kapoor starrer 'Sanju' continued to attract footfalls throughout the weekend, ending up with a Rs 1.2 billion haul by the end of its first weekend.

The movie, directed and co-produced by Rajkumar Hirani, raked in Rs 386 million on Saturday and followed it up with a record setting collection of Rs 467.1 million on Sunday, bringing the film's three day collection to Rs 1.2 billion. This makes it the most successful opening of the year, and among the top opening weekend collections of all time.

Some of the records broken by the film include 'Baahubali 2: The Conclusion' that recorded first Sunday haul of Rs 461 million and 'Tiger Zinda Hai's opening weekend haul of Rs 1.14 billion. It has also beaten 'Padmaavat' (Rs 1.14 billion) and 'Race 3' (1.06 billion) to be the highest opening weekend earner of the year so far. At Rs 1.2 billion in three days, 'Sanju' is now expected to cross the Rs 2.5 billion mark at the domestic box office with certainty.

Starring Kapoor in the titular role, along with actors like Vicky Kaushal, Dia Mirza, Sonam Kapoor, Paresh Rawal and Anushka Sharma among others, the film opened to mostly positive reviews. It was released in close to 4000 screens across the country, and another 1300 screens abroad (traditional territories like UK, US and Middle East). It is among the widest distributed films of the year, second only to Salman Khan’s Eid release 'Race 3' (4300 screens).

While the movie opened to mixed to positive reviews, Kapoor’s acting has been universally lauded by critics and moviegoers which is helping it attract footfalls. Also, 'Sanju' has little to no competition at the movie halls right now, with the only other films being 'Race 3' and 'Incredibles 2'. While the animated Disney flick continues to do well in its second week, it does not pose a challenge to a mainstream Bollywood flick like 'Sanju'. Race 3 was expected to peter out in its second week in any case, given the panning the movie got from the critics, and the split word of mouth.

Sanju is also set to give Fox Star Studios its second big hit of the year after 'Baaghi 2' collected Rs 1.12 billion earlier this year.