Last Friday witnessed the first box office face-off of 2016 as Airlift took on Kyaa Kool Hain Hum 3, and going by sheer numbers, the former has won hands down. The Akshay Kumar-starrer made twice as much as the porn-com and is well on its way to be declared the first hit of the year, say trade pundits.
"'Airlift' opened to a positive response on Friday. Thanks to the strong word-of-mouth buzz and critical acclaim that the patriotic docudrama deservingly got, the collections soared over the weekend. To its advantage, Tuesday (today) is a national holiday and the film can do brisk business. The modestly budgeted (Rs 30-crore) film can easily be termed as the first superhit of 2016," says trade expert Amod Mehra.
The Raja Krishna Menon-directed film took UAE and the entire Gulf region by storm, making it the highest opening-day grosser for Akshay Kumar so far. "The film received tremendous love from cinegoers, which reflected in the day-wise growth in business. The word-of-mouth publicity is phenomenal. Tuesday collections are going to be huge," says trade analyst Taran Adarsh.
The other hyped release of the week, 'Kyaa Kool Gain Hum 3' got off to an encouraging start, collecting Rs 8.15 crore on day one. However, post that, the numbers took a nosedive as it was panned by critics. "The sex comedy was rejected by the audience and could garner only average numbers," adds Mehra.
'Jugni', a lesser-promoted, small-budget film which also released last week, proved to be a washout despite receiving the critics' nod.
BO stats
Rs 44.30cr
'Airlift' (opening weekend)
Rs 20.15cr
'Kyaa Kool Hain Hum 3' (opening weekend)
