Ae Dil Hai Mushkil (ADHM) and Shivaay (Shivay) have started with a bang at the Indian box office on the first day. But Karan Johar's film has made a bigger collection than Ajay Devgn's movie on the opening day.
Read: ADHM Review | Critics Review | Audience Review
Ae Dil Hai Muskhil has released in a large number of multiplexes in all city centres across the country and its screen count is bigger than Shivaay in these areas. Ajay Devgn's movie has more number of single screens to its credit in the domestic market than the Ranbir Kapoor starrer. Ae Dil Hai Muskhil had better advance booking in multiplexes, while Shivaay has got a good response in single screens.
Both the movies opened to fantastic response in the northern circuits, as there are no big ticket releases from any regional languages during this Diwali festival. But their occupancy was not the same in south India as they clashed with Tamil films Kaashmora and Kodi and Kannada movies Mukund Murari and Santhu in this region.
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Ae Dil Hai Muskhil and Shivaay registered an average of 70 percent occupancy in the morning shows. They garnered positive response from the audience and the word of mouth took their business upwards in the afternoon and evening shows. The Ranbir Kapoor was a best Diwali treat for the lovers of musical romance drama, while Shivaay impressed action lovers.
Read: Shivaay Review | Critics Review | Audience Review
Ae Dil Hai Muskhil has collected Rs 13.30 crore at the Indian box office on the first day. The movie has broken the record of Ranbir Kapoor's last release Tamasha, which collected Rs 10.87 crore on its opening day. "#ADHM Fri ₹ 13.30 cr. India biz... EXCELLENT at plexes... Note: Dhanteras. Pre-Diwali," Trade analyst Taran Adarsh tweeted.
On the other hand, Shivaay has collected Rs 10.24 crore at the Indian box office on the first day. The movie has beaten the opening day collection of Ajay Devgn's previous outing Drishyam that raked in Rs 8.5 crore on its first day. Taran Adarsh tweeted: "#Shivaay is STRONG at single screens/mass circuits... Fri ₹ 10.24 cr. India biz... Note: Dhanteras. Pre-Diwali."
However, Ae Dil Hai Mushkil and Shivaay are most-awaited big budget Bollywood movies and they had a massive amount of hype and publicity before their release. Ae Dil Hai Mushkil made it to the headlines almost everyday for the last few weeks due to Pakistani artist Fawad Khan's appearance in it.
Trade analysts in the industry were sceptical on whether the sentiment of nationalism would work against Ae Dil Hai Mushkil and favour Shivaay to do well at the ticket windows. But the early response has cleared their doubt and the film has made a better collection than the latter. Ae Dil Hai Muskhil and Shivaay have collected over Rs 23.54 crore together at the Indian box office on the first day.