'PK' surpasses Rs.25 crore mark on opening day

Aamir Khan did it last winter with "Dhoom: 3" and now with "PK", the versatile actor once again seems to be setting the box office on fire.

His latest release, which is riding high on word of mouth, has minted over Rs.25 crore in the domestic market on its opening day, according to trade experts. Directed by Rajkumar Hirani and produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra, the film released Friday, and evening and night shows witnessed good growth on day one.

According to a source, the film has collected Rs.26.63 crore in India, making it the second highest non-holiday opening after "Dhoom: 3". Trade analyst Komal Nahta, who has praised the film, tweeted: "#PK 1st day all-India net collection: approx. Rs. 25.6 crore. Phenomenal considering that it's a social film. Word of mouth is fantastic."

Girish Johar, who is aware of the economics of the Hindi film industry, shared on Twitter: "As predicted, #PK Day1 with 26.5crs aprox is 2nd Highest-Non Holiday start after #Dhoom3 beating #Kick! Top two slots belong to @aamir_khan (sic)."  Going by the reviews and feedback, the weekend will be fruitful for the film, which also stars Anushka Sharma, Sushant Singh Rajput, Sanjay Dutt and Boman Irani.

Members of the film fraternity have lauded the movie already for offering entertainment with a purpose. Filmmaker Karan Johar has called it "game changing" cinema, while Shekhar Kapur has appreciated it for giving precedence to quality over "box office numbers".

Trade experts had conjectured that the movie could touch Rs.300 crore and turn into Bollywood's biggest ever entertainer too. But whether that happens, is yet to be seen in the forthcoming days.