Akshay Kumar's film Kesari raked in as much as Rs 86 crore in five days, tweeted trade analyst Taran Adarsh but as per his prediction, the Monday figures "should have" been in double digits instead of Rs 8.25 crore. Kesari also witnessed a decline in footfall in theatres but continues to run strong in theatres across North India. Here's what Taran Adarsh tweeted about Kesari's ticket sales: "Kesari should've collected in double digits on Mon... North circuits dominate, driving its biz... Faces more-than-required decline in some circuits... Tue-Thu crucial... Thu 21.06 cr, Fri 16.75 cr, Sat 18.75 cr, Sun 21.51 cr, Mon 8.25 cr. Total: Rs 86.32 cr. India biz."
The theme of the Anurag Singh-directed film had fans intrigued for months and then positive word of mouth helped the film score great reviews and impressive box office numbers. Kesari had a promising start releasing on Holi with as much as Rs 21 crore and turned out score Akshay Kumar's second highest Day 1 collections after Gold (Rs 25 crore).
So far, Sunday's collections have been the highest single-day numbers for Kesari. Earlier, Taran Adarsh tweeted that Kesari needs to perform well over the weekend to strengthen its box office numbers.
The film is based on Kesari is based on the Battle of Saragarhi, 1897 and Akshay Kumar plays the role of Havildar Ishar Singh, who leads a contingent of 21 Sikh soldiers of the British Indian Army against 10,000 Afghan invaders. In his review for NDTV, Saibal Chatterjee wrote: "With Akshay Kumar doing the heavy lifting with unwavering enthusiasm, the star's fans will find it easy to get into the swing of this tale of extraordinary courage in the face of daunting adversity."