Box Office: Golmaal Again is THIRD BIGGEST Diwali opener of all time :Bollywood Box Office

Despite a clash, Golmaal Again has scored really huge at the Box Office. So much so that it is finding itself amongst the top openers of all time especially when it comes to Diwali releases. Last year there were no new records set since Ajay Devgn's own Shivaay and Karan Johar's Ae Dil Hai Mushkil had clashed and also arrived on a weekend prior to Diwali (which fell on Monday). Before that, Khan films like Prem Ratan Dhan Payo and Happy New Year had scored very huge and netted in excess of 40 crore each. However, the only film other than Golmaal Again to score in excess of 20 crore on its first day was Krrish 3.

Here are the details:

Happy New Year - Rs. 42.60 crore

Prem Ratan Dhan Payo - Rs. 40.35 crore

Golmaal Again - Rs. 30.14 crore

Krrish 3 - Rs. 25.50 crore

Jab Tak Hai Jaan - Rs. 15.23 crore

Ra. One - Rs. 15 crore

Ae Dil Hai Mushkil - Rs. 13.30 crore

Son of Sardaar - Rs. 10.72 crore

Shivaay - Rs. 10.24 crore

Golmaal 3 - Rs. 8.50 crore

As can be seen, while Diwali is perceived as a huge season for films, it is not really the case on the first day itself since the period before and on Diwali is very dicey and hence release planning needs to be immaculate. In that sense, it is the first four films in the list which benefitted most from Diwali since they boasted of perfect timing. As a matter of fact, Golmaal Again could have scored even higher had it arrived solo and seen screen allocation as per the potential.

Nonetheless, it is just a start for the Ajay Devgn and Rohit Shetty film and there is quite some ground that it can actually cover between Saturday and Sunday to emerge as the fourth highest grosser ever in Diwali.

*Estimates. Final numbers awaited