Kesari box office collection: Akshay Kumar, Parineeti Chopra's period war drama crosses Rs 75 cr in opening weekend

Akshay Kumar's historical war drama Kesari, after crossing the Rs 50 crore mark on 23 March, has surpassed the Rs 75 crore benchmark in its extended first weekend run. On Sunday, Kesari crossed its opening day earnings (Rs 21.06 crore) and minted Rs 21.51 crore, pushing its total to Rs 78.07 crore. The film has become the highest grossing film in its opening weekend this year.

A still from Kesari. Twitter

#Kesari puts up an impressive total... North circuits are superb... While the 4-day total is good, the biz on Sat and Sun should’ve been higher, since the word of mouth is excellent... Thu 21.06 cr, Fri 16.75 cr, Sat 18.75 cr, Sun 21.51 cr. Total: ₹ 78.07 cr. India biz.

— taran adarsh (@taran_adarsh) March 25, 2019

#Kesari benchmarks... Highest *Day 1* of 2019 [so far]: ₹ 21.06 cr Crossed ₹ 50 cr: Day 3 Crossed ₹ 75 cr: Day 4 Highest opening weekend of 2019 [so far]: ₹ 78.07 cr [4 days; Thu-Sun] India biz. — taran adarsh (@taran_adarsh) March 25, 2019

Upon release, Kesari became the highest opener of 2019. It also is Kumar's second biggest opener after Gold (Rs 25.25 crore). Kesari has outperformed Gully Boy, Total Dhamaal and even Captain Marvel in terms of opening day earnings.

Despite a strong word-of-mouth, trade analysts have pointed out that the film did not perform up to its potential, probably owing to the ongoing Indian Premier League, which may have curtailed the weekend earnings.

Section of the industry feels #IPL2019 curtailed the growth of #Kesari on Sat [evening] and Sun... Two days that could’ve made a biggg difference to the *extended* weekend total... Weekdays pivotal... Strong numbers and solid trending [Mon-Thu] are a must.

— taran adarsh (@taran_adarsh) March 25, 2019