MUMBAI: The theatre business in India had been waiting for a big miracle at the box office for about two years now. Since theatres shut down countrywide in March 2020, the business had been struggling, with many single screens forced to shut down in this while due to the financial strain. There were little sprouts of business with small releases here and there, but with Maharashtra theatres being closed all this while, no major film was being released.

Also read: 'Sooryavanshi' to get widest overseas release for an Indian film across the globe

So, when it was announced that Maharashtra theatres were being opened from October 22 with Rohit Shetty’s Sooryavanshi lined up to be the first big release on Diwali, there were huge expectations from it. And it soared and how. Sooryavanshi shattered any apprehensions that naysayers had by crossing the Rs 75 crore mark in its first weekend.

On its first day, Sooryavanshi had a bumper opening as it collected Rs 26.29 crore and on Saturday it faced a menial dip due to Bhai Dooj, but still collected Rs 23.85 crore. It had a super strong Sunday with Rs 26.94 crore, taking it’s first weekend total to 77.08 crore. Overseas too, the film did a respectable business collecting Rs 24.58 crore over the weekend.

The Akshay Kumar and Katrina Kaif-starrer, which also featured Ajay Devgn and Ranveer Singh as Singham and Simmba respectively in pivotal cameos, faced multiple challenges. Apart from the pandemic, the film also became the first big project to release theatrically after the whole Boycott Bollywood trend due to the passing of Sushant Singh Rajput. But the actioner trumped them all.

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