Film director Anthony D'Souza's latest offering "Boss", starring Akshay Kumar, has made a mark at the box office with record opening collections.
The masala entertainer, which was a mid-week release, minted around ₹14.5 crore from the first day. The figures were unexpected and turned out to be higher than the opening day collections of Akshay's last film "Once Upon A Time in Mumbaai Dobaara".
With ₹14.5 crore, "Boss" has become the fourth highest opener of 2013 after "Chennai Express", "Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani" and "Race 2".
"Chennai Express" tops the list of first day collections with ₹33.12 crore, followed by "Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani" at second place with ₹19.45 crore and "Race 2" with ₹15.12 crore.
"Boss", which was released on Bakr Eid in more than 3,000 screens, has fared better in single screens compared to multiplexes. In some circuits, the film registered better occupancy than "Besharam".
But "Boss" failed to break the opening day business of Akshay's blockbuster "Rowdy Rathore". The 2012 release hit screens on a Friday and had a lower screen count, but it still managed to rake in ₹15.1 crore.
"Boss" opened well in north Indian circuits including Rajasthan, CI, CP, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. The occupancy in theatres is expected to rise as the morning shows showed good response.
However, the cricket match between India and Australia played spoilsport for Akki's film.
The film's business is likely to fall on Thursday, given that it is a weekday. The collections are expected to increase over the weekend starting from Friday evening. Word of mouth should help the business of the film over the weekend.
"It has received a lukewarm response at multiplexes. The film's midweek release is a disadvantage since the next day is a working day and the collections will eventually drop," trade analyst Amod Mehra told The Times of India.
Now, it remains to seen whether the film will pick up during the weekend or meet the same fate as box office dud "Besharam".
