First week: Ae Dil Hai Mushkil makes Rs78 crore, Shivaay slows down

The first week spelt no 'mushkil' for Karan Johar as Ae Dil Hai Mushkil wound up with Rs78 crore nett in box-office collections till Thursday, according to Boxofficeindia.com.

This makes the week a good one for the film whose budget is estimated at Rs85 crore. Ajay Devgn, however, must be concerned with the returns of his film. Till last reports came in, Shivaay had only managed to rake in Rs61.50 crore, adding a mere Rs5.1 crore on Thursday.

Ae Dil Hai Mushkil's collection is the sixth highest first-week collection this year, behind Sultan, Rustom, MS Dhoni: The Untold Story, Housefull 3 and Airlift. The major advantage for Johar's film was in multiplexes in urban centres. Shivaay saw a slow start in these regions, allowing the Ranbir Kapoor-Anushka Sharma-Aishwarya Rai Bachchan starrer to take a headstart.

However, Devgn can take solace in the fact that his film matches the collections of previous hits like Golmaal 3 (2010), Bol Bachchan (2012), and Son Of Sardaar (2012). Outside of the Singham series, this is a decent performance by a film starring Ajay Devgn.

The collections for both films have been steady over the week. Ae Dil Hai Mushkil began with Rs17.75 crore on Monday and by Tuesday its total collection had touched Rs64.5 crore. The film got Rs7.5 crore on Wednesday and Rs6 crore on Thursday, leading to a nett Rs78 crore. 

Shivaay, on the other hand, had a slower weekend, and picked up on Monday with a collection of Rs15.75 crore, helping Devgn's film to touch the Rs50 crore mark by Tuesday. Since then, its collections have slowed down with Rs6.4 crore on Wednesday and Rs5.1 crore on Thursday, leading to a gross of Rs61.50 crore. The film's high production cost of Rs105 crore means it might still be declared a flop at the box office.

For Shivaay in particular, the second weekend is likely to be crucial and will make the difference between recovering its investment and becoming the year's biggest flop after Mohenjo Daro.