Box office: Akshay Kumar soars to record opening with Rs28.50 crore for Mission Mangal

Jagan Shakti's Mission Mangal (2019) posted an impressive opening with Rs28.50 crore on Thursday. The collection makes it one of Akshay Kumar's highest opening films in recent times, exceeding Gold (2018), which released exactly a year to the date of his latest film.

In competition, Nikkhil Advani's Batla House (2019), starring John Abraham, managed a decent Rs14.50 crore to keep pursuit of the multi-starrer science ensemble starring Vidya Balan, Sonakshi Sinha and Taapsee Pannu. 

While Kumar has a role that can be described as supporting, Mission Mangal has shown an impressive opening for its relatable content and packaging. According to figures from BoxOfficeIndia.com, the film has shown a holistic growth across big and small cities, scoring heavily in Mumbai, Delhi, NCR, and southern regions. 

The Rs28.50 crore opening is the highest for an Akshay Kumar-led film, ranking above last year's Gold (Rs23.63 cr), and last two releases, Kesari (Rs20.40 cr) and 2.0 (Rs19.74 cr). 

The presence of this multi-starrer ensemble was being stated as a cause of worry for John Abraham's Batla House, but the film has managed a decent collection. According to figures from BoxOfficeIndia.com, the film has managed Rs14.50 crore on its opening day. 

This puts Batla House second on the list of John Abraham's best opening days. The film is only outranked by Satyameva Jayate (2018) which earned Rs19.65 crore on its opening day. 

While the holiday rush might slow down on Friday, the films should do well over the weekend. For Batla House, the collections on Friday might determine its ability to hold out against Mission Mangal over the span of the next week.