January 26 release grosses Rs 23cr on its opening day

MUMBAI: The first big Bollywood release of the year, Agneepath , grossed Rs 23 crore on its opening day of January 26. It has thus beaten Bodyguard , which had the biggest opening last year at Rs 21 crore.
The success of masala films such as Bodyguard, Singham and Ready over the past year shows the return of the audience to cinema halls. Trade analyst Amod Mehra gives credit for the trend to single-screen theatres.
“Producers have realized that to rake in maximum business, it is important to keep single-screen audience in mind. Agneepath is a very mass-oriented film; another reason for its bumper opening was January 26, a national holiday. The film's tilt is more towards single screens which, I feel, will continue to remain strong. But there could be a drop in multiplexes from next week.”
Agneepath's business, though, dropped on the second day as Friday happened to be a working day; trade experts estimated the collections at Rs 16 crore. Bodyguard, on the other hand, had grossed Rs 19 crore on the second day.
The first three weeks of January has been disappointing for the exhibition sector with almost all releases bombing at the box office. Vishal Anand, operations head of Fun Cinema, said, "Well , that is something to cheer for in an otherwise slow January."
Trade analyst Taran Adarsh said, “The original (of Agneepath ) may not have done well but curiosity to watch the remake of an Amitabh Bachchan film worked well.”