Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], March 31 : Bollywood superstar Salman Khan's 'Sikandar' hit theatres on Sunday coinciding with the festive occasion of Eid.
Despite receiving mixed reviews from critics and audiences, the film, which also stars Rashmika Mandanna in the lead role, performed well on the opening day at the box office.
As per the makers, 'Sikandar' raked in Rs 54.72 crore globally.
Trade analyst Taran Adarsh, however, said that opening collections of 'Sikandar' were less compared to those of his other films.
"Sikandar performs well on its opening day but falls short when compared to #SalmanKhan's previous opening days. Given post-pandemic trends for highly anticipated films, an opening day of Rs 40 cr+ was expected from #SalmanKhan this time... Collecting this number was even more crucial, considering #Sikandar had the biggest release ever for a #Hindi film in #India - 5500 screens / approx 22,000+ shows per day. However, despite releasing on a Sunday, similar to #Tiger3 [#Diwali 2023], #Sikandar does not feature in #SalmanKhan's #Top5 *opening days* list [check list below]," Adarsh wrote.
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"#Sikandar has performed relatively better in the mass belt and is expected to see a jump today [Monday] due to #Eid festivities... The real test will begin thereafter," he added.
Directed by AR Murugadoss, collections of 'Sikandar' might have been impacted by piracy, according to analysts.
On Sunday morning, popular film trade analyst Komal Nahta claimed that the film was leaked online before the release. The film was reportedly removed from at least 600 websites following piracy allegations online.
"This morning, I spoke to seven or eight people in the trade, and they confirmed that the film had been leaked. I was also told that Sajid Nadiadwala and the authorized team worked hard to remove the film from many piracy websites. But by then, the damage was already done. It spreads very fast," the analyst told ANI.
ANI reached out to producer Sajid Nadiadwala's team for a response. While they did not confirm the leak, the team shared that their piracy agencies are actively working to handle the issue.
Despite the underwhelming start, Sikandar is expected to see a boost on Monday due to Eid holiday.
'Sikandar' also features Sharman Joshi, Kajal Aggarwal and Sathyaraj among others.
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