Akshay Kumar's PadMan that opened in theatres on Friday, February 9, continues to witness growth on its third day at the domestic box office but at a slow pace.
Though the content-driven film had a slow start at the box office, with a collection of Rs 10.26 crore at the Indian box office, its business picked up the pace on Saturday, thereby raking in Rs 13.68 crore on its second day.
PadMan has collected Rs 16.11 crore on its third day at the domestic market.
Its total Indian box office collection at the end of the first weekend now stands at Rs 40.05 crore net.
"#BoxOffice: #PadMan sees quite a good response in the first weekend. It collects Fri: ₹10.26 cr, Sat: ₹13.68 cr, Sun: ₹16.11 cr. Total: ₹ 40.05 cr. India Biz @PadManTheFilm @sonamakapoor @akshaykumar @radhika_apte @mrsfunnybones," Bollywood Hungama tweeted.
Trade analyst Girish Johar had earlier said that PadMan is expected to rake in Rs 50 crore on its opening weekend, but it has, however, failed to cross the prestigious mark at the domestic market in three days, probably because Sanjay Leela Bhansali's magnum opus Padmaavat, which is still going strong at the ticket counters despite having completed two weeks of run at the domestic box office.
Also starring Sonam Kapoor and Radhika Apte, PadMan released in 2,750 screens in India and 600 overseas (worldwide total: 3,350 screens).
Although there was a lot of hype surrounding the film and was highly praised by Bollywood celebrities, critics had given a mixed response.
Directed by R Balki, PadMan is based on a real-life story of Arunachalam Muruganantham from Tamil Nadu, who invented a machine to create low-cost sanitary napkins, and revolutionized the issue of menstrual hygiene in rural India.
