Two weeks after Article 370, Bollywood has yet another solid hit in hand.
Shaitaan has taken a superb opening and by the look of things, it will earn Rs 100 crore (Rs 1 billion) comfortably.
The Ajay Devgn-Jyotika-R Madhavan-starrer was expected to take a good start, and a double digit opening was a given.
But on the day of release, positive word-of-mouth and the partial holiday of Mahashivratri ensured a terrific first day earnings of Rs 15.21 crore (Rs 152.1 million).
The momentum continued on Saturday, resulting in further growth.
Clearly, audiences liked the supernatural psychological thriller, a genre that hadn't been explored well in Bollywood for a while.
The first weekend collections stand at a massive Rs 55 crore* (Rs 550 million).
Shaitaan is fetching Ajay Devgn good personal milestones already.
It ranks right after his top five biggest openers ever, including Golmaal Again (Rs 87.6 crore/ Rs 876 million), Singham Returns (Rs 78 crore/ Rs 780 million), Drishyam 2 (Rs 64.14 crore/ Rs 641.4 million), Total Dhamaal (Rs 62.40 crore/ Rs 624 million) and Tanhaji - The Unsung Warrior (Rs 61.93 crore/ Rs 619.3 million).
This Friday sees the release of the Sidharth Malhotra action film, Yodha and Adah Sharma's geopolitical drama Bastar. While these films would see a wide release in theatres, Shaitaan will continue to keep its position strong at the box office, and ensure a good inflow of audiences in the second week too.
Note: All collections as per production and distribution sources.
