Thugs Of Hindostan took a bumper opening as expected of around 65-70% which is the top opening of the year beating Baaghi 3 which had the best morning occupancy till date this year. Its the biggest day of the year for box office collections so this was always on the cards. The trailer recieved mixed response but at the ground level there was always going to huge interest to watch this film.

The film is the most expensive film in the history of Hindi cinema costing around 260 crore without the remuneration of Aamir Khan but despite this huge cost its not much of an issue as its the first real winner in China as far as money back to the makers is concerned. The film does not even look for China but Aamir Khan seems to bigger there than it actually looks. The film has got a $20 million (145 crore) minimum guarantee from China and then there is Overflow to share if it gets any. Films like Dangal, Secret Superstar, Bajrangi Bhaijaan and Hindi Medium have done huge there especially the first two but this sort of money has not come back home. On top there is the 150 crore from satellite and digital which takes it to 300 crore with just these three revenue sources.

These insane recoveries are all good and well but that real fight is theatrical as this is where the audience comes to play and the expectations are huge for the film. The start is huge but its about the holds especially post the weekend in the case where the film goes theatrically. 

The expectations will be of 300 crore nett plus and if its liked universally then it will cruise past that mark. The bare minimum necessity on a worst case is the Diwali record which is held by Golmaal Again at around 205 crore nett last year. The last real big one on Diwali was Kuch Kuch Hota Hai in 1998 which went past 300 crore entt (adjusted rates) and since then nothing has gone to 300 crore nett plus.

There is not much to say about the initial as its huge all over. Its a bit slower in Gujarat and parts of South but eventually the audience come. The collections in UP and  Bihar are insane especially for an Aamir Khan starrer which tend to be bit weaker in these areas. The real tests for the film begin after day one and remains to be see what are the levels. Gujarat has a prolonged holiday period over Diwali but the higher services taxes are killing that market as there has been another increase this week and this has been the case since GST came into force. The total taxes in the state are now nearly double of what it used to be at the time of Entertainment Tax.