As two releases, Ghayal Once Again and Sanam Teri Kasam, took to screens together on Friday, the clash resulted in Ghayal Once Again charging ahead in the opening weekend.
Ghayal Once Again may not have started strong, with occupancies as low as 15 per cent in the early shows, but the film picked up the pace by evening, with a 40 per cent growth leading to collections of Rs 7.20 crore on Friday. The film registered negligible growth on Saturday, earning Rs 7.65 crore by the end of the day. Figures looked up on Sunday as the film earned Rs 8.80 crore. The first weekend collections for Ghayal Once Again stand at Rs 23.65 crore. While the film is performing well in North and Central India, an unenthusiastic response in multiplexes and urban centres may affect the film’s business over the course of the weekdays.
Newcomer film Sanam Teri Kasam, which wasn’t expected to make a huge impact on box-office numbers, managed to earn Rs 1.25 crore in its opening Friday. Though Saturday collections stood at Rs 1.55 crore, the growth was slim and couldn’t raise the bar for the film even on Sunday, as it collected Rs 1.75 crore. With a domestic total of Rs 4.55 crore in three days, Sanam Teri Kasam is most likely to experience tapering business over the course of the weekdays, with a lifetime collection of under Rs 10 crore on the cards.
Meanwhile, Akshay Kumar’s Airlift shows no signs of stopping, even as it enters its third week in theatres. Though the film faced a drop in collections on Friday, earning Rs 2.03 crore, an unprecedented jump in earnings was seen on Saturday, with earnings of Rs 3.04 crore. Sunday’s earnings were even higher with Rs 3.80 crore added to the kitty. With a third weekend total of Rs 8.87 crore, the total domestic collections of Airlift now stand at Rs 121.16 crore and international collections at Rs 36.93 crore.