Aamir Khan's "PK" (Peekay) had an excellent start at the domestic box office, but failed to break the opening day record of "Dhoom 3" and Shah Rukh Khan's "Happy New Year".
"PK" is a satirical film on religion helmed by ace director Rajkumar Hirani. The film features Aamir, Anushka Sharma, Boman Irani, Sanjay Dutt and Sushant Singh Rajput in key roles.
The film was released in more than 5,000 screens in India and over 600 screens internationally.
"PK", touted to be the biggest release of 2014, had carried an insane pre-release buzz and thus there were expectations that the film would beat "Happy New Year" opening day record in India.
But Aamir's film failed to beat the record of "Happy New Year", as well as his own blockbuster film "Dhoom 3" released last year.
"Happy New Year" minted ₹44.97 crore on day one, making it the highest opener, "Dhoom 3" had made a business of ₹36.22 crore, whereas, "PK" minted ₹26.63 crore on first day.
Surprisingly, the film even failed to beat Hrithik Roshan's "Bang Bang" opening day total. "PK" opening day total is the fourth highest of 2014 after "Happy New Year", "Singham Returns" and "Bang Bang".
Several exhibitors and distributors had said the opening day collection would be good, but it won't be able to beat "Happy New Year" record.
"I don't see it becoming the highest opener. Its not a colloquial soda bottle kind of film which has a big opening and than fizzles out. It will have good first day, second day will be even better and third day better than that. In fact, it will have a great first week and will go on to have a super fourth week," exhibitor-distributor Akshaye Rathi told BollywoodLife.com.
"The advance booking is going very well, and I think, the opening day will be around ₹ 27- 28 crore and the weekend collections will be around ₹ 80-85 crore," producer-distributor R Pachisia told the daily.
Meanwhile, Check out the top 10 highest opening day collection of Bollywood movies below:
| Position | Film | Release Date | Earnings in ₹ Crore | Release Day |
| 1. | Happy New Year | 24, October, 2014 | 44.97 | Non-holiday |
| 2. | Dhoom 3 | 20 December, 2013 | 36.22 | Non-holiday |
| 3. | Chennai Express | 9 August, 2013 | 33.12 | Holiday |
| 4. | Ek Tha Tiger | 15August, 2012 | 32.93 | Holiday |
| 5. | Singham Returns | 15 August, 2014 | 30 | Holiday |
| 6. | Bang Bang | 2 October, 2014 | 27.54 | Holiday |
| 7. | PK (Peekay) | 19 December, 2014 | 26.63 | Non-Holiday |
| 8. | Kick | 25 July, 2014 | 26 | Non-Holiday |
| 9. | Krrish 3 | 1 November, 2013 | 25.5 | Non-holiday |
| 10. | Agneepath | 26 Januray, 2012 | 23 | Holiday |
