Golmaal Again mints Rs 136 cr; Mersal heading towards Rs 200 cr: Week 1 box-office collections

This Diwali, three major releases — Golmaal Again, Secret Superstar and Mersal — hit theatres across the globe and have had quite a successful first week at the box-office. Keeping all the major factors of a film's release in consideration — budget, number of screens, star power and promotions — all the three films have savoured sweets during the festive season.

Tamil superstar Vijay's big-budget venture Mersal opened at a massive 3292 screens worldwide and is raking moolah at the box-office. It wouldn't be wrong to say that the array of controversies surrounding the film, pre as well as post its release, has only benefited its overall business. The starpower of Vijay, in addition to virtually no competition at the box-office, has steered the film towards a Rs 200 crore plus mark.

Clockwise: Mersal, Secret Superstar, Golmaal Again. Images via Facebook

International Business Times,  in one of its reports suggests that Mersal has already crossed Rs 170-crore mark and it is likely to reach Rs 200-crore mark as well, by the end of this week. The film is reportedly already enlisted in the top 10 highest-grossing South Indian movies ever, only after Baahubali 2: The Conclusion (Rs 1700+ crore), Baahubali: The Beginning (Rs 600+ crore), Robot/ Enthiran (Rs 290 crore), Kabali (Rs 286 crore) and I (Rs 240 crore).

Mersal stars Vijay in a triple role opposite Nithya Menen, Samantha Ruth Prabhu and Kajal Aggarwal. It is directed by Atlee.

As far as the Bollywood market is considered, it's Rohit Shetty dominating all the way. His latest release, Golmaal Again — the fourth installment from his superhit Golmaal franchise — has set the cash registers ringing. In an otherwise dismal year in terms of business in Bollywood, Golmaal Again along with Judwaa 2 has come as a silver lining.

Film-trade analyst Taran Adarsh tweeted:

In its week-long run at the box-office, the horror-comedy has minted Rs 136 crore so far and is only getting stronger with every passing day. Golmaal Again features Ajay Devgn, Tabu, Parineeti Chopra, Arshad Warsi, Tushhar Kapoor, Kunal Kemmu and Shreyas Talpade. It is directed by Rohit Shetty.

The other film in the league was Aamir Khan Productions' Secret Superstar featuring Khan himself along with his Dangal co-star and National Award winning actress Zaira Wasim. It is a debut-directorial venture by Advait Chandan.

The film has received a lot of adulation from across quarters and has been lauded for the actors' performances, the music (especially the new playback singer Meghna Mishra), and the sheer effect that lingers in the hearts of the viewers after watching the film. Just on the basis of word-of-mouth publicity, the comparatively small-budget film has done significant business.

Adarsh tweeted:

The film, slowly and steadily, has crossed Rs 40 crore revenue mark during its week-long run at the box-office.