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RA.One collected Rs 26.5 crore across the world on its opening day (including Rs 18.5 crore in India), beating Bodyguard’s mighty Rs 21 crore

The opening salvos have been fired and it’s round one to SRK. The numbers for Shahrukh Khan’s magnum opus RA.One are out and they tell a very interesting tale. Opinions may differ, but numbers don’t lie and the hard fact is that RA.One collected Rs 26.5 crore across the world on its opening day (including Rs 18.5 crore in India), beating Bodyguard’s mighty Rs 21 crore. SRK supporters may argue that the opening day, Wednesday, coincided with the Diwali puja performed by millions of people thus reducing footfall and people would turn out in larger numbers subsequently. That turned out to be the case and on Thursday the audience turned out en masse. On day two, RA.One netted a humongous Rs 25.1 crore in India alone, making it the highest ever collection on a single day for an Indian film.

Salman fans may argue that RA.One had the added advantage of being released in dubbed Tamil, Telugu and 3D versions. But then again, Bodyguard couldn’t do that because it appeared in its Bollywood avatar after being hits in Malayalam and Tamil. It was a different story in south India that changed rapidly. As insurance, SRK had roped in Superstar Rajinikanth for a cameo, but word quickly spread in the south that the appearance lasts barely a minute. With Suriya’s 7Aam Arivu and Vijay’s Velayudham competing for eyeballs, the good southern folk opted for those instead. However, since those films proved to be underwhelming, the South turned to good old SRK and collections jumped 60-100% on Thursday.

The only bad news for SRK is that pirated versions of RA.One are circulating freely on the internet, including on the film’s official partner YouTube. This begs the question, quis custodiet ipsos custodies? Which, in case your Latin ain’t what it used to be, gentle reader, means ‘who will guard the guardians?’

Meanwhile, the corporate honchos at Eros International, who shelled out Rs 150 crore to buy SRK’s vanity project, are ecstatic. Since Cineswami is kind and the lovely Bollywoodlife readers need their beauty sleep, here’s some zzz-speak that’ll make you nod right off.

Nandu Ahuja, Sr VP, Distribution, Eros International Media Ltd said, “We are witnessing unparalleled collections across the country with record breaking figures from different territories. Business usually gets hampered on Diwali day in the evening due to Laxmi puja, despite which RA.One has performed exceptionally well across the country and has proved to be the biggest ever Diwali day release. The film has opened at 95 to 100 percent collections from most territories and is a sure sign of one of the biggest blockbusters in the making in Bollywood. The second day figures have also broken records for the highest collections for a single day for an Indian film.”

Kamal Jain, Group CFO, Eros International Media Ltd added, “Majority of the film’s costs have been recovered before the film hit theatres and the box office numbers are exemplary giving major boost to profitability. We are extremely happy with the box office performance of the film as the same is very much in line with our expectations.”

RA.One movie review: Shahrukh Khan scores as a superhero… almost