Sultan has taken by far the best opening for a film released in 2016. The opening was bumper across all major circuits with occupancy in the high 70s in the morning. In the noon, a few single-screens witnessed minor drops, but majority of theatres that we tracked showed growth with many of them running at 85-90% occupancy.
Early trends suggest (up until 6PM), there are high chances of the film crossing the 40-41 crore mark on Day 1 (Wednesday), which would be a massive achievement considering the fact that today is a partial holiday. The first day business would then be comparable to the first day business of a film like Dhoom 3, which was a made on a much higher budget and the biggest franchise film.
Tomorrow is a holiday and multiplexes are packed with plenty of shows in the night, so the film could even manage a bigger total if multiplex business peaks (like they do on Saturday) and single-screens maintain pace.
Either way, Sultan is on course to record one of the biggest days in the history of Indian Cinema. Reports coming in from theatres are positive too, so the film could show an upward trend tomorrow, with the muslim section of the audience coming out in big numbers to watch the film.
Stay tuned for our late night box office collections report on Sultan.
Salman sir respect nice movie