Despite protests, 'Padmaavat' witnesses decent opening

Sanjay Leela Bhansali's magnum opus 'Padmaavat' has finally hit the theatres yesterday and despite facing a lot of protests, the movie opened to a decent opening at the Box-Office.

According to Box-Office India, the movie earned around Rs 18 crore net on its opening day.

It is not the bumper opening the makers would have expected, but despite some circuits completely or partially shut, the numbers are decent enough.

The movie performed extremely well in Mumbai and Chandigarh. The collections are expected to benefit from the national holiday that falls tomorrow.

The film had a great start in international markets as the Ranveer-Deepika starrer raked in good numbers in Australia, New Zealand and the UK.

Meanwhile, talking about the film, Deepika Padukone, on Wednesday, said the movie has spoken for itself, against all the odds it faced from the very inception.

"I think there is a time for everything. The film has spoken for itself, like you have seen the reactions to the film. It has been phenomenal. That is in a way the best response we can give, through the work that we do," said Deepika.

The movie stars Deepika in the lead role of Rani Padmini. Shahid Kapoor essays the role of Maharawal Ratan Singh and Ranveer Singh portrays Alauddin Khilji, the 13th Century ruler of the Khilji Dynasty.