Sooryavanshi, starring Akshay Kumar and Katrina Kaif, registered a decent performance on the second day with collections of around ₹24.50 crore. However, the film could not gain pace due to the Bhai Dooj festival and made less bank than it did on Friday.

The Rohit Shetty film had opened in theatres with collections of ₹26.29 crore. It had clashed with Hollywood film, Eternals at the box office.

A Boxofficeindia.com report stated: “Sooryavanshi has held up very well on day two as it looks to record collections in the 24.50 crore nett range. This collection has come off a huge holiday and the drop will be only 5-10%.”

The film, which opened in theatres on Friday after being delayed numerous times due to the coronavirus pandemic, was met with a thunderous response from the audience that lined up outside the theatres in various parts of the country. Reliance Entertainment, which backed the film, said the movie is doing strong business at the box office despite curtailed occupancy in various parts of the country.

“The response has been outstanding but due to state limitation the business was affected (a bit) in places Maharashtra, MP, Bihar and Haryana because of 50 percent occupancy otherwise the number would have been ₹34 crore in domestic market,” Reliance Entertainment Group CEO Shibasish Sarkar told PTI about the film’s opening.

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“Besides, close to 1000 odd screens have shut down in COVID-19 times and so these are the things that have impacted. But in spite of that, it has been an outstanding number. It has overshadowed our expectations,” he added.

The film’s box office response indicates that the audiences are back in cinemas and it is a moment of celebration, Sarkar said. “We are hoping the film will earn over ₹75-85 crore in the domestic market over a period of three days,” he added.

(With PTI inputs)