Filmmaker Karan Johar’s Ae Dil Hai Mushkil and actor-filmmaker Ajay Devgn’s Shivaay have both received strong responses at the Indian box office, making more than Rs100 million (Dh5.4 million) each, trade experts say.
Both the films released in India on Friday, ahead of the festive occasion of Diwali, which will be celebrated on Sunday across the country.
Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, which released in around 3,000 screens in India, has been mired in controversy due to the casting of Pakistani actor Fawad Khan.
Despite facing protests by Hindu groups in cities in West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh on the first day of its release, Ae Dil Hai Mushkil made Rs133 million on Friday, according to the makers.
The film stars Ranbir Kapoor, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Anushka Sharma,
“Ae Dil Hai Mushkil - Friday Rs 13.30 crore. India business. Excellent at multiplexes. Note: Dhanteras. Pre-Diwali,” trade analyst Taran Adarsh posted on Twitter on Saturday.
According to Apoorva Mehta, CEO, Dharma Productions, the film has emerged as the biggest opener for Johar.
Shivaay, meanwhile, managed to collect Rs102.4 million, and is going strong at single-screen theatres, Adarsh said.
“Karan Johar’s Ae Dil Hai Mushkil is bold and beautiful. It’s a comfortable winner at the box office,” trade expert Komal Nahta tweeted on Saturday.
“Shivaay is below the mark. Single-screen cinema audience may like it, but multiplex audience won’t,” Nahta added.
Both films have had their share of controversies.
Trouble started for Ae Dil Hai Mushkil when the Cinema Owners Exhibitors Association of India (COEAI) announced that they would stall the release of the film across single screens in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Goa and parts of Karnataka. However, some single-screen owners have released the film.
Radical group Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) had also announced that they would not let any film featuring Pakistani artists release in India, including Ae Dil Hai Mushkil. They later agreed to allows its release.
Earlier, Devgn, who has directed, produced and acted in Shivaay, alleged that Johar paid actor Kamaal R Khan Rs2.5 million to tweet positively about Ae Dil Hai Mushkil and to give negative reviews to Shivaay.
