Box office: Sanju earns Ranbir Kapoor his highest opening ever with Rs34 crore nett

Sanju (2018), the much publicised Sanjay Dutt biopic has lived up to its expectation at the collection windows after it bagged a huge Rs34 crore nett, on its opening day, as reported by Boxofficeindia.com. The producers pegged their figure at a close Rs34.75 crore nett.

Made at an estimated budget of Rs100 crore (including prints and advertisements), Sanju was released across 4,000 screens in India. It's the widest ever release for any Ranbir Kapoor-starrer. In the overseas market, Sanju was released across 1,300 screens. Before Sanju, Besharam (2013) was Kapoor’s widest released as it got around 3,400 screens.

Sanju marks the  highest opening for a Hindi film in 2018 so far, beating the Rs27.69 crore nett earned by Salman Khan's Race 3 (2018).  It may be noted that Race 3 was released in 4,300 screens in India.

The film, directed by Rajkumar Hirani, has recorded the sixth highest opening for any Hindi film. Telugu film Baahubali: The Conclusion (2017, Hindi version) holds the record with Rs40.73 crore nett . This is followed by Salman Khan's Prem Ratan Dhan Payo (2015) that bagged Rs39.32 crore nett, Sultan (2016) with Rs36.59 crore nett and Shah Rukh Khan's Happy New year (2014) with Rs36.31 crore nett. Sanju fell a few lakhs short to overtake the fifth position of Tiger Zinda Hai (2017) which had made Rs34.12 crore nett. Tiger Zinda Hai had 600 screens more than Sanju.

Sanju has recorded the highest opening for a Hirani film, beating the Rs25.45 crore nett collected by PK (2014).

"It is a huge victory for Raju Hirani. This is a subject that a lot of filmmakers would have been scared to dabble with.  Here’s a real life story of a guy, who is still alive. He is known to be a character who has had his ups and down. You make the film with an actor [Ranbir Kapoor] whose last few films have had mixed responses. Then you make a film that opens with Rs34.75 crore nett, which is second highest ever for a non [long] holiday Friday. Hirani’s bravery, gamble has paid off now,” said film exhibitor Akshaye Rathi.  

Kapoor may be a relieved man as this is the biggest opening of his career. The 2013 dud Besharam had opened to Rs19.87 crore nett.

“This is a much needed shot in the arm for Ranbir Kapoor. This movie will be a turning point in Ranbir Kapoor’s career. What you are seeing in this film is Ranbir 2.0. For the last 10 years he has worked hard to show his supreme talent as an actor. From here, and the films that he has signed — Shamshera (2019), Brahmastra (2019), or the Luv Ranjan film — he is now beginning to harness and explore his star power."