As expected, Sooraj Pancholi and Athiya Shetty's debut movie "Hero" has opened better than several big-budget Bollywood movies this year.
The opening day box office collection of "Hero" is in the range of Varun Dhawan's "Badlapur" and Arjun Kapoor-Sonakshi Sinha starrer "Tevar". Despite starring two newcomers, "Hero" recorded the 12th highest opening day box office collection.
"Hero", which is the debut movie of Sooraj and Athiya, has also shattered the records of Tiger Shroff and Kriti Sanon's debut movie "Heropanthi". Tiger-Kriti starrer "Heropanti" minted Rs 6.63 crore when released on 23 May, 2014, and "Hero" raked in Rs 6.85 crore on first Friday (11 September).
"#Hero Fri ₹ 6.85 cr. India biz... Very good for a film starring newcomers... Biz will need to grow on Sat and Sun for a strong wknd total," trade analyst Taran Adarsh tweeted.
Directed by Nikhil Advani, "Hero" is a remake of 1983 film of the same name. "Hero" opened to negative reviews, but that did not affect the first day occupancy of the film.
The occupancy was good on first day and the credit for it goes to the producer of the film Salman Khan. The film has been promoted well, especially on social media, and Salman's backing increased the hype.
Trade analysts were expecting the film to have a Rs 6+ crore opening at the box office and "Hero" has managed to live up to that expectations.
"The very fact that Salman Khan is launching these two actors has ensured tremendous buzz for the film. I guess, Hero is going to open fairly well considering the fact that it's the launch vehicle of two débutantes. I won't be surprised if it does a Rs 6-6.5 crore day one, which is fairly good for a film with debutantes," exhibitor and distributor, Akshaye Rathi, told BollywoodLife.com.
Meanwhile, here is the list of top highest openers of 2015:
Bajrangi Bhaijaan: Rs 27.25 crore
Brothers: Rs 15.02 crore
Welcome Back: Rs 14.35 crore
ABCD 2: Rs 14.30 crore
Gabbar is Back: Rs 13.05 crore
Dil Dhadakne Do: Rs 10.53 crore
Roy: Rs 10.40 crore
Baby: Rs 9.3 crore
Tanu Weds Manu Returns: Rs 8.85 crore
Drishyam: Rs 8.50 crore
Phantom: Rs 8.46 crore
