New Delhi: Aamir Khan's PK, despite positive reviews and media hype, fails to break the first day box office collection of SRK's Happy New Year.
The movie also starring Anushka Sharma collected Rs 30 Cr on the first day, almost 33% less than HNY's Rs 44 cr. This despite the fact that PK had 200 screen advantage over HNY.
The movie was released in around 5200 screens in India on Friday.
HNY, however, had an edge over PK as it was a Diwali release.
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The next 2 weeks will be crucial for PK. Analysts believe that the overall collection will gradually increase following the start of holiday season from Monday. Christmas and New Year holidays will help PK to attract people towards movie theatres.
The fact that there will not be any film of any notable star in the next 20 days will also help in PK collection. The next in the line is Arjun Kapoor starrer ‘Tevar', scheduled to release on January 9.
‘Happy New Year' collected Rs. 201.8 Cr in its three weeks of release. Chances are high that PK might do a better job as it reviews are better than HNY.
On the first day, the average occupancy in the theatres across the country was around 60-70%. A few multiplex in the metro reportedly had cent percent occupancy.
Industry experts say that the movie opened well in National Capital Region and Mumbai. PK was taken well among the audience in Rajasthan, Raipur, Nagpur, Indore, Pune, Kolkata. Bihar and UP, largely dominated by single screen, had a decent occupancy.
Produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra, PK also stars Sushant Singh Rajput and Sanjay Dutt in pivotal roles.
