Despite all the controversies, Shahid Kapoor-starrer "Udta Punjab" had a flying start at the box office. The film, directed by Abhishek Chaubey, emerged as the fifth biggest opener of 2016 at the domestic box office.
"Udta Punjab" minted Rs. 10.05 crore from its domestic box office on its opening day. The Rs. 10.05 crore income is the fifth highest this year, after "Fan," "Housefull 3," "Airlift" and "Baaghi."
"North India [Delhi, Punjab]... Plexes across big cities VERY GOOD... Fri ₹ 10.05 cr. India biz," trade analyst Taran Adarsh tweeted, adding: "If #UdtaPunjab maintains similar numbers or shows growth on Sat + Sun, it will help garner an impressive weekend total...Highest OPENING DAY biz of 2016: #Fan ₹ 19.20 cr, #HF3 ₹ 15.21 cr, #Airlift ₹ 12.35 cr, #Baaghi ₹ 11.94 cr, #UdtaPunjab 10.05 cr Hindi films."
"Udta Punjab," a film that talks about the issue of drug trafficking in Punjab, was hit with several controversies before its release. However, the controversies worked in the favour of the film and opened at the domestic box office with good occupancy.
In the Northern region, the occupancy of "Udta Punjab" was better than Akshay Kumar's "Housefull 3." The opening day occupancy ranges from good to average. While in the North the occupancy was around 60 to 65 percent, in other circuits it was somewhere around 30 percent.
Now, all the eyes are set on its opening weekend collection. Though the film is carrying a strong word of mouth and positive buzz, it remains to be seen whether it will translate the hype in good numbers at the box office over its weekend.
Directed by Chaubey and produced by Anurag Kashyap's Phantom Pictures and Ekta Kapoor's Balaji Telefilms, "Udta Punjab" is a hard-hitting take on the issue of drug trafficking in Punjab. The film features Shahid, Alia Bhatt, Kareena Kapoor Khan and Diljit Dosanjh in the lead roles.
Check out the top opening day grossers of 2016 below:
Fan: Rs. 19.20 crore
Housefull 3: Rs. 15.21 crore
Airlift: Rs. 12.35 crore
Baaghi: Rs. 11.94 crore
Udta Punjab: Rs. 10.05 crore
Kyaa Kool Hain Hum 3: Rs. 8.15 crore
Ki and Ka: Rs. 7.30 crore
Ghayal Once Again: Rs.7.20 crore
Kapoor and Sons: Rs. 6.85 crore
[1 lakh = 100,000 | 1 crore = 10 million | 100 crore = 1 billion]
