Aamir Khan’s Dangal, which opened on Friday, has come as a boon for cinemas in the era of demonetisation. Analysts and multiplexes believe the movie could notch up ₹100 crore in the opening weekend itself and become one of the top grossers.

The movie, from the studios of Disney Pictures, UTV Motion Pictures and Aamir Khan Productions, has been released across 4,300 screens in India and about 1,000 screens internationally.

Trade analyst Komal Nahata said the movie will appeal to both the masses and the classes as well the urban and the rural consumers.

“It is expected to see historic box-office collections on the opening day. Going by early indications, the movie is also expected to see record lifetime collections,” he added.

According to some analysts, a reason could be that the film is based on a popular sport, wrestling. Besides, earlier this year, the audience had given a thumbs-up to Salman Khan’s Sultan, also based on the same sport. Known to set new records at the box office, the last Aamir Khan-starrer, PK, had raked in an estimated ₹331 crore, becoming the highest grossing bollywood film.

PV Sunil, CEO and Director, Carnival Cinemas, said, “Dangal is a boon to the film exhibition industry, especially in the current economic conditions. Our first-day occupancy of around 50 per cent in the matinee shows seems very promising and hints towards a big domestic weekend collection of the film.”

Ticketing platform BookMyShow said it has already hit its fastest one million ticket milestone for a movie with Dangal clocking sales of over ₹20 crore.

Devang Sampat, Director – Strategic Initiatives, Cinépolis India added, “The movie is expected to see a long run at the box office as it is benefiting from a strong word of mouth.”

Tinku Singh, Group President & Chief Strategy Officer SRS Group, said: “Since demonetisation, we have seen a drop in ticket sales at our cinemas, especially in tier-2 cities. But with Dangal, we are seeing average occupancies of 60-65 per cent on the first day.”

The film has brand association tie-ups with Bournvita, Vivel and Nissan Datsun.

source: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com / The Business Line / Home> Variety / by Meenakshi Verma Ambwani / December 23rd, 2016