Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi nets 7 crore on first day

Just a few days back, there were talks about whether Aditya Chopra's Shahrukh Khan starrer, Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, releasing on December 12, just about two weeks after the Mumbai terror attack was a sensible move. The discussions surfaced again after a subdued and sombre 'Eid' celebrations across the country, as a mark of respect to the victims of the dastardly killings. A section of the media also expressed fears that the audience may just not turn out in large enough numbers to watch the film, due to the tragic incidents last month.

However, if the first day numbers are anything to go by, Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi has proved the pessimists wrong, as after a somewhat slow (but expected) start in Mumbai–Thane, Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi picked up magically. The collections in places like Delhi/NCR were much better, just like in Hyderabad–Nizam and East Punjab. As per the first estimations, the first day has netted an impressive 7 crore plus from across India.

With the collections set to improve further (based on advance bookings at major multiplexes) the weekend is expected to be in the 20–22 crores range. The CEO of a major multiplex chain says " Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi has opened to full houses across most of our theatres. The day's occupancies averaged 80–90 percent. However, going by t he advance bookings, we believe the next two days would also see 100 percent occupancy." A representative of another multiplex chain expressed happiness about the fact that cinemas, which were seeing 30 percent occupancy since the last few weeks, had jumped to over 90 percent with Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi.

The collections are lower in single screens and also in places like Bihar and smaller centres of Central India, but these days the affect is minimal from these circuits as the largest chunk of revenues are generated from the multiplexes and cities.

With two open weeks ahead, it appears that Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi is set for a good run, just as we had predicted in our box–office report.