Box office: Akshay Kumar's Pad Man collects Rs39.50 crore nett in opening weekend

Akshay Kumar’s Pad Man was released amidst great hype, but had an average opening day at the box office with Rs10 crore nett. However, the film's business picked up over Saturday and Saturday, earning Rs13.50 crore nett and Rs16 crore nett, respectively. The social drama bagged Rs39.50 crore nett in its opening weekend, as reported by Boxofficeindia.com.

Akshay's last film, Toilet: Ek Prem Katha (2017) had made Rs49.09 crore nett in its opening weekend. Both films have an estimated budget of around Rs70 crore. However, Toilet: Ek Prem Katha was released in 2,950, while Pad Man in 2,750 screens in India. 

Before Toilet..., Akshay's Jolly LLB 2 (2017) had made Rs47.59 crore nett in its opening weekend. Remarkably, Akshay's Rustom (2016) was released in 2,350 screens and competed with Hrithik Roshan’s Mohenjo Daro, but Rustom earned Rs49.53 crore nett in its opening weekend.

Given the hype around Pad Man, the social drama hasn’t translated into good box office numbers. Pad Man faces a huge task to improve business over the week if it is to make substantial impact at the box office.

Pad Man continued to face stiff competition from Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Padmaavat, which made Rs6.25 crore nett on its third Saturday and it's Sunday figures were even better at Rs8 crore nett. The Bhansali film made an impressive Rs17.75 crore nett in its third weekend. Its India business now stands at Rs241.97 crore nett. Padmaavat was released on 25 January.

Come Friday, Pad Man will face competition from Aiyaary and the much-awaited Hollywood release, Black Panther.