Box office: Tanhaji starts well as Chhapaak struggles on opening day

Ajay Devgn's turn as a mediæval warrior seems to have played an advantage over Meghna Gulzar's Chhapaak. According to BoxOfficeIndia.com, Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior finished its opening Friday with Rs16 crore nett, while Meghna's directorial venture earned just Rs4.75 crore.

Om Raut's historical film is based on the Maratha mission to recapture Kondhana fort from the Mughal army in the 17th century. With a story that has local relevance and immediacy, the film has, naturally, found takers in Maharashtra, where it recorded its best numbers. The film has also shown decent collections in North India and Rajasthan.

Chhapaak has weathered some controversy and faced threats of boycott by rightwing extremists in recent days. Still, the Deepika Padukone-starrer showed a good performance in regions like Chandigarh, NOIDA and Gurgaon. BoxOfficeIndia.com stated that while the film had made a decent opening, which should have taken it to a first-day tally of Rs6 crore, it appears to have faltered. The film finished its opening Friday with Rs4.75 crore. It might do better on Saturday and Sunday, but is unlikely to see a huge difference.

Rajinikanth's Darbar opened to good numbers across the country. BoxOfficeIndia.com said the AR Murugadoss film earned Rs16 crore in Tamil Nadu and a very good Rs32 crore all over the country. While this is still behind the recent Vijay blockbuster Bigil (2019), which had opened with an all-India collection of Rs35 crore nett, the film has made a very good opening and might grow further on the weekend.