Amitabh Bachchan (Reuters)
Amitabh BachchanReuters

Amitabh-Ajay Devgn's "Satyagraha" has witnessed excellent business over the weekend, thanks to positive feedback from critics.

"Satyagraha" raked in ₹11.21 crore on the first day of its release, which was biggest ever opening for a film by Prakash Jha. The political drama flick picked up in the evening and night shows on Friday (30 August). The domestic box office collections have augmented over the weekend with the film earning ₹13.08 crore on Saturday and ₹14.83 crore on Sunday. The first weekend figures are pegged at approximately ₹39 crore.

"Satyagraha collected Rs 39.12 cr nett in its opening weekend. Breakup: Fri 11.21 cr, Sat 13.08 cr, Sun 14.83 cr. Excellent growth!" film critic and trade analyst Taran Adarsh tweeted.

"Satyagraha" affected the collections of John Abraham's "Madras Café", which was released a week ahead on 23 August. "Madras Café", a political thriller based on the 80s civil war in Sril Lanka, earned just around ₹1.5 crore to ₹1.75 crore on 30 August (second Friday).

The Amitabh starrer has fared better than "Madras Café" in terms of first weekend collections. John's film minted approximately ₹20.42 cr to ₹20.67 crore in its first weekend in India. At the end of the first week, it fetched 33.81 crore nett, according to Taran Adarsh. However, "Satyagraha" has grossed more than "Madras Café" in its debut weekend. The film is nearing the ₹50-crore mark and is expected to achieve it in a few days.

"Satyagraha" had a solo release and the film is likely to do good business till this Friday (6 September), when two big films are releasing - Ram Charan's Zanjeer and Sushant Singh Rajput's Shuddh Desi Romance. It remains to be seen if "Satyagraha" will be able to hold well after the release of the afore-mentioned films.