'Mohenjo Daro,' 'Rustom' get good opening at box office: Akshay's film to make bigger collection than Hrithik's movie on 1st day

"Mohenjo Daro" and "Rustom" have opened to superb response at the Indian box office, but Akshay Kumar's film is likely to make a bigger collection than Hrithik Roshan's movie on the first day.

Considering the budget, "Mohenjo Daro" and "Rustom" were expected to release with a massive screen count each in the domestic market. But since both were released on the same date, they had to fight for the theatres. The result was both had to share existing number of cinema halls.

             The Hrithik Roshan starrer has been released in 2500 screens, while the Akshay Kumar starrer managed to get 2300 theatres in the domestic market on Aug.12. The hype and promotion helped both "Mohenjo Daro" and "Rustom" record decent advance booking. But the Akshay Kumar starrer had an upper hand than the Hrithik starrer.

              "Rustom" registered an average of 50 percent occupancy in both single screens and multiplexes around the country in the morning and matinee shows. The movie has run to packed houses in some centres. It received wonderful response in Mumbai, Delhi and other northern circuits, while it had a lukewarm response in Southern parts of the country.

The Tinu Suresh Desai-directed crime-mystery film has garnered positive response from the audience in the first show and the word of mouth is expected to take its business upwards in the afternoon and evening shows. As per early trends, "Rustom" is likely to collect Rs. 14 crore nett at the Indian box office on the first day.

              On other hand, "Mohenjo Daro" witnessed an average of 40 percent occupancy in both single screens and multiplexes around the country in the morning and matinee shows. The film has received wonderful response in southern parts of the country, while it had an average response in other parts.

              The Ashutosh Gowariker-directed epic adventure-romance film has also garnered positive talk from the audience and the word of mouth is expected to increase its occupancy in theatres in the latter shows. As per early trends, "Mohenjo Daro" is likely to collect approximately Rs. 12 crore nett at the Indian box office on the first day.