The Salman Khan magic is working again. His latest film Ready, despite being panned by majority of critics, is drawing footfalls to theatres. The Ready box office figures already have the distributors heaving a sigh of relief and eyeing a fat profit as well.Directed by Anees Bazmee, the comedy film starring Asin and Salman Khan opened to a rip-roaring start on Friday. It saw the occupancy of 60 to 80 percent at both multiplexes and single screen theatres. Some shows in the evening registered a house-full.
Coming less than a year after Dabangg, which recorded the best opening weekend collections for any Hindi film to date, Ready is not going as strong as Dabangg did, but is likely to surpass the first-day collection of 3 Idiots (Rs 13 crores). Ready’s Friday business is expected to be between Rs 12 to 14 crores. Not to be ignored is the fact that 3 Idiots released during the Christmas weekend while Ready has released at the peak of summers, with no festival around.
The business in the coming days will decide whether Ready is a superhit or a hit or an average performer. The film isn’t likely to flop.
The release of Ready has also punctured the collections of other Bollywood releases. Pyaar Ka Punchnama, which has done the business of Rs. 9 crore approx in two weeks, saw a steep fall in its collections on Friday, and so did Vikram Bhatt’s Haunted - 3D, which has already become a hit with more than Rs 26 crores since its release.