Rohit Shetty's film, Singham Returns, has grossed Rs 77 crore in the opening weekend of its release, making it the second highest weekend opener of this year after Kick. The Salman Khan-starrer had collected Rs 80 crore in its first weekend.
Exhibitor Rajesh Thadani says, "Singham Returns has cashed in on the holiday weekend and people are liking the film, despite the film getting mixed reviews. The Rohit Shetty and Ajay Devgn combination seems to have worked again at the box office. The film should be able to easily cross the Rs 100 crore mark by Tuesday as Monday is again a holiday."
Meanwhile, Akshay Kumar's Entertainment has collected Rs 64 crore in the first week. Thadani says, "It is a decent figure though Singham Returns has probably eaten into its share."
Trade analyst Amod Mehra says that while the makers of Singha Returns expected the film to do well on opening day (August 15), they had braced themselves for a drop in collections on the following days.
"But on Sunday, the film continued to do well and it is clear that it is earning big money. In fact, the Ajay Devgn and Kareena Kapoor-starrer has posted the highest opening day collection for a Devgn film and this figure (Rs 30 crore) is also the highest opening day collection for any film so far in 2014," he says.