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Record Opening Week For Akshay Kumar's Thriller 'Rustom,' With More Milestones Ahead

This article is more than 7 years old.

Akshay Kumar and Ileana D'Cruz in 'Rustom'(Photo: Zee Studios)

Rustom, the crime thriller starring Akshay Kumar, Ileana D’Cruz, Esha Gupta and Arjan Bajwa, has already passed one milestone in Kumar’s career - and more could be ahead.

After earning 82.28 crore ($12.36 million) in its first six days on 2,317 screens in India, Rustom now ranks as the highest-ever opening week for the Bollywood star, surpassing two 2016 hits, Airlift's 83.5 crore ($12.5 million) and Housefull 3’s 80.10 crore ($12 million). With a 7-day total of 90.90 crore ($13.6 million) the title has already passed the lifetime collection of Shah Rukh Khan's Fan to become the fourth biggest Hindi earner this year.

So this weekend the Tinu Suresh Desai-directed film about a Navy Commander who is accused of killing his wife’s lover will be Kumar’s sixth hit to enter the 100 crore ($15 million) club, joining Housefull 3, Airlift, Holiday – A Soldier Is Never Off Duty, Rowdy Rathore and Housefull 2. Will it be his fastest title to reach that pinnacle? It took Airlift just 10 days and Housefull 3 13 days.

Beyond that, the thriller may have enough legs to become the highest Akshay Kumar grosser ever , beating Rowdy Rathore’s 131 crore ($19.7 million). Its next major competition is A Flying Jatt, which stars Tiger Shroff as India’s youngest superhero, who happens to be afraid of heights, Jacqueline Fernandez and Nathan Jones. Directed by Remo D'Souza and produced by Balaji Motion Pictures’ Shobha Kapoor and Ekta Kapoor, the comedy/adventure launches on August 26.

"Rustom is holding very well in week days," Rajender Singh Jyala, Inox Leisure VP programming and distribution, told FORBES. "It has a very good chance to beat Rowdy Rathore's collections if it holds in weekends as well."

Produced by Zee Studios, Kriarj Entertainment, Cape of Good Films and Friday Filmworks, Rustom raked in $3.03 million in its first four days overseas. Its weekend haul of 50.42 crore ($7.5 million) was the fourth biggest for a Hindi film in India this year behind Sultan, Housefull 3 and Fan.

The head-to-head contest with Mohenjo Daro turned out to be a non-event. Directed by Ashutosh Gowariker and featuring Hrithik Roshan as a farmer who confronts the man who is determined to destroy one of the world’s oldest cities in the Indus Valley in 2016 BC, the drama collected 46 crore ($6.9 million) in six days. That's not a bad figure but well below the industry's expectations that Roshan's film would easily reach 100 crore. The 7-day tally is 51.18 crore ($7.5 million) but it's collected an impressive 24.13 core ($3.6 million) overseas.

'Rustom' (Photo: Zee Studios)

Kumar plays Navy Commander Rustom Pavri, with Ileana D’Cruz as his wife Cynthia, whose affair with millionaire car dealer Vikram Makhija (Arjan Bajwa) precipitates the shooting. Esha Gupta is Makhija’s vengeful sister and Pavan Malhotra is the investigating officer Vincent Lobo.

The courtroom drama could well reign again this weekend, playing on more than 1,850 screens, despite competition from the new entrants which include Paramount/MGM’s Ben-Hur; Warner Bros' War Dogs; the Walt Disney Co's Pete's Dragon; Australian-based director Anupam Sharma’s romantic comedy UnIndian, which stars Tannishtha Chatterjee and former Australian cricketer Brett Lee in his screen debut; and director Mudassar Aziz's Happy Bhag Jayegi, a comedy about a woman who literally runs away from her wedding and ends up in Lahore, Pakistan, starring Diana Penty, Momal Sheikh, Abhay Deol and Jimmy Sheirgill.

Produced by Krishika Lulla and Aanand L. Rai, Aziz's film follows Penty as Happy, who leaves Sheirgill's character at the altar and turns up at Abhay Deol’s house. He decides to take her back to India but it is far from an easy ride. Inox's Singh expects the comedy, Penty's comeback after her debut in 2012's Cocktail, to perform as the best of all the new releases, particularly in north India.

Penty said, "The break was not a conscious decision. Me not doing films has been misinterpreted. I was just playing it by ear and didn’t want to put any pressure on myself.”

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