Hichki box office report: Rani Mukerji-starrer records decent opening; collection likely to soar over weekend

Siddharth P Malhotra's Hichki recorded a fairly decent opening on Friday with a collection of Rs 3.30 crore.

Leading trade analyst Taran Adarsh tweeted the opening figures on Saturday and said that the collection started picking up in the evening shows for the Rani Mukerji-starrer. While that can be possibly attributed to either leisure hours or word of mouth, as Adarsh predicts, the collection is about to get picked up substantially during the weekend.

#Hichki settles and cements its status as Day 1 progresses... Records better occupancy post evening onwards... Sat and Sun expected to witness escalation in biz... Fri ₹ 3.30 cr [961 screens]. India biz.

— taran adarsh (@taran_adarsh) March 24, 2018

Adarsh also pointed out how the film's first day collection ranks as one of the highest openings of women-led films in recent memory. Surprisingly, it comes second to Srijit Mukerji's historical drama Begum Jaan that released around the same time last year. However, the Vidya Balan-starrer, that garnered Rs 3.94 core on opening day, subsequently tanked at the box office. Another Balan-starrer, Suresh Triveni's slice-of-life drama Tumhari Sulu, earned Rs 2.87 crore on first day of release. Sridevi-starrer MOM and Kangana Ranaut-starrer Simran followed closely with Rs 2.90 crore and Rs 2.77 crore respectively.

Heroine-centric movies and Day 1 biz... Note: Diverse genres... Varying screen count... India biz...#Hichki Day 1: ₹ 3.30 cr#TumhariSulu Day 1: ₹ 2.87 cr#Mom Day 1: ₹ 2.90 cr#Simran Day 1: ₹ 2.77 cr#BegumJaan Day 1: ₹ 3.94 cr — taran adarsh (@taran_adarsh) March 24, 2018

At the trailer launch of Hichki, Rani had said that her next project will strictly depend on how Hichki is received at the box office. Made on a modest budget of Rs 20 crore, the film may be able to recover the costs or even emerge a hit depending on its box office trajectory.

It not only faces competition from Baa Baa Black Sheep, that also released this past Friday, but also Ajay Devgn-starrer Raid and Kartik Aaryan-starrer Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety. While Raid saw a dip in collection after the opening week, Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety continues its smooth box office run despite reduced screen count.

#Raid faces a decline at the start of Week 2, but is DECENT nonetheless... Should witness an upward trend on Sat and Sun... [Week 2] Fri 3.55 cr. Total: ₹ 66.60 cr. India biz.

— taran adarsh (@taran_adarsh) March 24, 2018

Despite reduction in screens/shows in Week 5, #SonuKeTituKiSweety continues to woo the BO... [Week 5] Fri 48 lakhs. Total: ₹ 103 cr. India biz... #SKTKS — taran adarsh (@taran_adarsh) March 24, 2018

All these films have six days to make the most of their box office runs before Tiger Shroff-starrer Baaghi 2 releases this Good Friday on 30 March.

I can’t wait for March 30! Are you guys ready? 👊 #Baaghi2In6Days@DishPatani @khan_ahmedasas @NGEMovies @FoxStarHindi @Tseries #Baaghi2onMarch30 pic.twitter.com/F44GUqzLn5

— Tiger Shroff (@iTIGERSHROFF) March 24, 2018