Box office collection: Shah Rukh Khan's 'Fan' becomes the highest opener of 2016

Shah Rukh Khan's "Fan" had a fantastic opening day at the domestic box office. As expected, the thriller drama shattered the records of Akshay Kumar's "Airlift" to become the highest opener of 2016.

"Fan," which opened to rave reviews from critics and audiences, was expected to earn in the range of Rs. 20 crore as the film was released in the lesser number of screens compared to his, Salman Khan and Aamir Khan's other big-budget movies. Maneesh Sharma's directorial film earned Rs. 19.20 crore, which is 55 percent higher than "Airlift" opening day collection. Akshay's film earned Rs. 12.35 crore on its opening day from the Indian market.

"#Fan records FANTASTIC biz on Fri. Plexes/metros are ROCKING. Fri ₹ 19.20 cr. India biz. Sat+Sun biz is crucial to put up a STRONG total," trade analyst Taran Adarsh tweeted.

The Shah Rukh-starrer was released on a non-holiday without a national holiday in the entire week and in just 3,500 screens. Thus, the opening weekend box office collection of "Fan" is good, but the film needs to show a good growth on Saturday and Sunday to put up a good opening weekend box office.

"Fan" opening day occupancy varied from houseful to good to average in the morning shows. However, once the positive reviews started pouring in the occupancy got better. The film had a better hold at the multiplexes than single screens, but overall by the end of the day, it showed a good trend.

Directed by Maneesh, "Fan" features Shah Rukh in a double role – Aryan Khanna and Gaurav Chandna -- Waluscha de Sousa and Shriya Pilgaonkar as the lead actress and Deepika Amin and Yogendra Tiku in supporting roles.

Check out the top openers of 2016 below:

Fan: Rs. 19.20 crore

Airlift: Rs. 12.35 crore

The Jungle Book: Rs.10.09 crore

Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice: Rs. 8.25 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

Wazir: Rs. 5.61 crore

Mastizaade:  Rs. 5.59 crore

[1 lakh = 100,000 | 1 crore = 10 million | 100 crore = 1 billion]