If one leaves aside the opening day collections [Rs. 41 crore] of Baahubali 2 [Hindi], which was set on an epic scale and had boasted of unprecedented hype, the biggest opening day has been evidenced on Wednesday, 25th June, when Raees [Rs. 20.42 crore] and Kaabil [Rs. 10.43 crore] released. Between the two films, Rs. 30.85 crore came in. Both were out and out commercial 'masala' entertainers and had seen very good hype going for them en route arrival. Still, the kind of footfalls that the two films gathered could help collections just about go past the Rs. 30 crore mark.
Now if Salman Khan's Tubelight manages to do that just on its own this Friday, it would still be a feat good enough. After all, the big holiday of Eid would still be a couple of days ahead [Monday is set to be ultra huge for the film] and that would primarily decide where exactly would the film ultimately head for. What one would see on Friday are starters and they are set to be delightful enough to make one wait for the full course meal.
As the promos too indicate, the film is far removed from the quintessential entertainment quotient that Salman Khan's earlier releases like Sultan, Prem Ratan Dhan Payo or even Bajrangi Bhaijaan have boasted of. This one is more of an emotional entertainer that is expected to find audiences on the basis of word of mouth. Still, since this is a Salman Khan film, a bare minimum audience footfall is still on the cards. Hence, one can well expect collections to be over Rs. 25 crore mark. While this is a bare minimum number on the anvil (which is good by the way), if the final Friday tally happens to hit Rs. 30 crore then it would be very good.
All said and done, expect a wonderful four day long weekend [Monday being Eid holiday] for Bollywood before the merits of this Kabir Khan film take over.
