Box-office update: M.S. Dhoni hits a sixer on day one

There has been tremendous hype for Neeraj Pandey’s M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story over the last month. This is because of the popularity of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, on whose life the film is based, and the great response for the film’s trailers. 

Hence, the film was expected to open big at the box-office and that is exactly what has happened. It has earned Rs20 crore in India on the opening day. This makes it the second highest opener of the year after Salman Khan’s Sultan which amassed Rs37-38 crore on day one. The record for the second best opening day of 2016 was earlier held by Shah Rukh Khan’s Fan with Rs18 crore. 

This is the first time that a film with no superstar has earned so much on the opening day. It stars Sushant Singh Rajput in the lead. But the reason for this is the massive fan following of Dhoni and the fact that he is still playing for team India.

The drawback for the Rajput-starrer is its high cost which is reportedly around Rs80 crore. So, it is vital for the film to earn more or at least the same amount in the remaining weekend and not have a big fall from Monday onwards, to become a profit-making venture.