New York:
The My Name Is Khan frenzy gripped the US and Canada too where the film opened in 121 theatres on Friday. Thousands of Shah Rukh fans thronged movie theatres.
In New York, on the opening night itself, the theatres were house full. A theatre manager even shouted: "My Name Is Khan is sold out. You can only buy tickets for tomorrow!", but fans' enthusiasm did not fizzle out.
Monday is a President's Day holiday in the US and so the film has the opportunity to earn strong box-office receipts over the long weekend holiday. The off-screen drama with the Shiv Sena even made it to the headlines of leading US papers like
The Wall Street Journal and
The New York Times.
The Indian diaspora has become a major source of revenue for Bollywood films in recent years and the Karan Johar film, which is based in America, has especially struck an emotional chord with South Asian's in New York.
"It's a Karan Johar film so all Indians will love it and after seeing it I just want to say that - My name is Khan and I am not a terrorist," said one of the fans.
The film's producers will certainly be hoping to offset any losses in Mumbai with a commercial success in North America.