Laal Singh Chaddha Day 1 Box Office Collection: Aamir Khan's Film Gets A Dull Start

After a long wait, Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan's much anticipated labour of love Laal Singh Chaddha released in cinema halls on Thursday (Raksha Bandhan). Despite positive to mixed reviews from the critics, the Aamir Khan-starrer registered an underwhelming opening at the box office.

With an occupancy rate pegged between 15-20% in the morning shows, the film doesn't give enough reasons to celebrate despite its opening day figure touching the double-digit mark. If the buzz is to be believed, Laal Singh Chaddha fared a little better in the multiplexes in the metro than the single screens.

The Aamir Khan film fared better in Delhi and NCR regions followed by South, East Punjab and Mumbai. Laal Singh Chaddha is minted an opening of Rs 12 Crore.

Trade analyst Taran Adarsh tweeted, "#LaalSinghChaddha is shockingly low on Day 1... The dull start has added to the woes of an ailing industry... Better at premium multiplexes, but mass circuits are weak... Needs to score big numbers from Fri-Sun to salvage the situation... Thu ₹ 12 cr. #India biz. *ALL* VERSIONS."

This is certainly a disappointing opening for a film with this kind of star cast and budget. In comparison, Aamir's last release Thugs Of Hindostan which was a box office disaster, had earned more on its opening day.

Laal Singh Chaddha is helmed by Advait Chandan who had previously directed Secret Superstar. Previously, in an interview with BBC, he reveaed that during the first script reading of Laal Singh Chaddha, they set up some chairs in a room trying to recreate the atmosphere of a train.

"We put people in their places and started reading. Aamir Khan had internalised Laal so much that it immediately came out so organically. He was Laal straight away. He lived with this character for about 10 years," the filmmaker was quoted as saying by the portal.

Aamir Khan-starrer Laal Singh Chaddha is an official remake of Tom Hank's Hollywood cult classic Forrest Gump which won six Oscars in 1994. The Indian adaptation also stars Kareena Kapoor Khan and marks the Bollywood debut of Telugu star Naga Chaitanya.