Kesari box office collection: Akshay Kumar, Parineeti Chopra's period drama collects Rs 116.76 cr in 9 days

Akshay Kumar’s war drama  Kesari  emerged as the fastest  film of 2019  to cross the Rs 100-crore mark, after the film’s week-long run at the box office. Despite the release of Notebook  and  Junglee , the film continued its growth during the second week of release. Trade analysts note that the film has performed well in North Indian circuit, and could even collect as much as Rs 150 crore in week 2 if it continues its upward trend in the subsequent days. The film earned Rs 4.45 crore on Friday and Rs 6.45 crore on Saturday. The film’s current total stands at Rs 116.76 crore.

#Kesari picks up momentum on [second] Sat... North India leads, while other circuits are back on track... ₹ 150 cr is within reach, if it continues to trend strongly on subsequent days... [Week 2] Fri 4.45 cr, Sat 6.45 cr. Total: ₹ 116.76 cr. India biz.

— taran adarsh (@taran_adarsh) March 31, 2019

Kesari recorded the highest  opening day  and opening weekend earnings of 2019. After Gold, the film is Kumar’s second biggest opener.

The film is based on the Battle of Saragarhi, which took place on 12 September, 1897. A group of 21 Sikhs, who belonged to British Indian regiments and were in charge of protecting the forts of Lockhart and Gulistan on Afghani borders, battled 10,000 Afghan soldiers at Saragarhi. Led by Havildar Ishar Singh, the troops managed a victory on the first two attacks and were able to defend the forts. However, the battalion succumbed to the final attack. But the troops were able to buy enough time for the British to call in for reinforcements.

Directed by Anurag Singh, and produced by Hiroo Yash Johar, Apoorva Mehta, Karan Johar and Sunil Khetarpal, Kesari also stars Parineeti Chopra, Mir Sarwar, Vansh Bharadwaj, Jaspreet Singh, Vivek Saini and Vikram Kochhar in supporting roles. The film released on 21 March across theatres in India and abroad.