Akshay Kumar's Kesari records the highest opening of 2019

Akshay Kumar-starrer period war film Kesari is off to a terrific start bagging R21 crore nett on its opening day, as reported by BoxOfficeIndia.com. It’s the biggest opening of 2019 thus far beating the Rs19.26 crore nett achieved by Ranveer Singh’s Gully Boy that released on Valentine’s Day, 14 February. 

Speaking to Cinestaan, trade analyst Vinod Mirani said, “Usually, in north India theatres remain shut in the morning due to the festival of Holi. In spite of Holi, the film has had a fantastic opening. Patriotism is the flavour of the season. Also, Akshay Kumar had always carried such film well. I am not surprised by the good opening,”

Mirani expects the film to drop today, a working day, but Kesari is likely to pick up again on the weekend. 

Made at an estimated budget of Rs100 crore, Kesari is released in 3,600 screens in India and about 600 screens worldwide. 

Kesari is the second Akshay Kumar film to post a 20 crore plus opening. Kumar’s last film Gold (2018) was released in 3,050 screens and earned Rs24.63 crore nett. 

Directed by Anurag Singh and co-produced by Dharma Productions, Kesari is based on the 1897 Battle of Saragarhi that was fought between 21 Sikh soldiers of British Indian Army and 10-12,000 tribal Afghan warriors. The Indian soldiers were led by Havildar Ishar Singh (Akshay Kumar) while the Afghans were led by Gul Badshah Khan (Ashwath Bhatt).