How did Sonakshi's Akira fare compared to female-led films of 2016?

Sonakshi Sinha's turn as the angel of fury in Akira seems to be slowly fizzling out at the box-office. The film has managed Rs18.75 crore till Monday, with an addition of Rs2.75 crore to its weekend collection. Akira had already earned Rs16 crore net over the weekend. 

The collection though is still below par for a film whose cost of production is valued at Rs30 crore. With Dharma Productions' Baar Baar Dekho and Nawazuddin Siddiqui starrer Freaky Ali set to release on Friday, the film might find itself struggling to add to the numbers. Akira earned Rs4.75 crore on its first day, followed by Rs5 crore on Saturday, and Rs6.25 crore on Sunday. The Monday holiday in Maharashtra helped the film do better in the Mumbai circuit, by earning Rs2.75 crore. This brings the eventual collection of the film to Rs18.75 crore. The film has fared even poorly overseas, earning close to $165,000 crore over a period of three days. 

As far as female-led films go, Akira's opening weekend collections are on par with Priyanka Chopra-starrer Jai Gangaajal (2016) which earned Rs15.65 crore. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan-starrer Sarbjit (2016) earned Rs12.19 crore on the opening weekend. Although Randeep Hooda had a leading presence in the film, Sarbjit was still majorly Rai Bachchan's film, and deserves a mention on this list. Neerja (2016) remains the most successful heroine-centric film this year with its box office collection of approx Rs21.99 crore in the first weekend itself. 

Although Sinha's action drama has performed fairly better than previous releases like A Flying Jatt in the overseas market, it continues to lag behind at the domestic box-office. Its inability to perform well among its target audience might prove disastrous for the Murugadoss film. The period between Tuesday and Friday might prove critical for the film, which needs to recover its Rs30 crore investment.