Raees, Kaabil (Kabil) 1st day box office collection: Shah Rukh Khan's movie beats Hrithik Roshan-starrer on opening day

Raees and Kaabil (Kabil) received superb openings at the Indian box office on the first day. But the Shah Rukh Khan-starrer has made better collection than the Hrithik Roshan-starrer on the opening day.

Read: Raees Audience Review | Critics Review | Celebs Review

Raees and Kaabil are among the most hyped and awaited Bollywood movies of recent times. Their promos generated a lot of positive buzz for them. The makers used several new publicity strategies as part of the heavy promotional exercises. But due to the clash at the box office on the same release dates, they had to fight for the screen count.

Read: Kaabil Audience Review | Critics Review | Celebs Review

Raees had an edge over Kaabil in all aspects, including star power, theatre count, hype and promotion, and advance booking. Trade analysts predicted that both the movies would get a decent opening at the ticket counters, but the Shah Rukh Khan-starrer would make better collection than the Hrithik Roshan-starrer on the opening day. As predicted, both the movies have received a good response at the domestic market.

The Shah Rukh Khan-starrer was released in over 2,700 cinema halls across the country on Wednesday, January 25. A day before its release, Raees recorded an average of 65 percent advance booking for its opening day. The movie registered an average of 85 percent occupancy in theatres across the domestic market during the morning shows on Wednesday. It ran to packed houses at several centres.

The Rahul Dholakia-directed action crime thriller film has got positive talk from the audience and critics and the word-of-mouth boosted its business in the afternoon and evening shows. According to Bollywood analysts, tickets worth of Rs 13 crore were sold in advance. As per early estimates, Raees collected around Rs 20.42 crore nett at the Indian box office on the first day.

Thursday is Republic Day holiday and Raees is expected to make record breaking collection at the Indian box office on its second day. Taran Adarsh tweeted: #Raees has a FANTASTIC Day 1... Wed ₹ 20.42 cr... Today [Thu; Republic Day] will witness HUMONGOUS biz again.

The Hrithik Roshan-starrer was released in over 2,200 screens at the domestic market on January 25. A day before its release, Kaabil recorded an average of 50 percent advance booking for its opening day. The film registered an average of 65 percent occupancy in theatres across the domestic market in the morning shows. It was also seen running houseful in some centres.

The Sanjay Gupta-directed romantic action movie has also received positive talk, which improved its collections in the afternoon and evening shows. Kaabil collected Rs 10.43 crore nett at the Indian box office on the first day. The director ‏tweeted: "With less than 40% screens we collected 10.43 Crs. Well begun is half done. "