Sonakshi Sinha's "Akira," which opened to a rather muted note, managed to collect a decent amount at the Indian box office on its first day.
The film witnessed only 10-15 percent occupancy in the morning shows probably because of the Bharat bandh, although the movie started to gradually pick up in the evening shows. Despite having released in 2,300 screens, which is almost equal to the screen count of Akshay Kumar's "Rustom," "Akira" failed to draw the audience to the theatres.
"Akira" collected Rs. 5.15 crore at the domestic box office on its opening day. Trade analyst Taran Adarsh tweeted: "#Akira gathered momentum after an ordinary start... Biz picked up from evening onwards... Fri ₹ 5.15 cr. India biz."
The Sonakshi starrer was expected to open to a packed house considering that this is the first time the actress has played a strong female-centric role. However, the Bharat bandh seemed to have affected the film's business to a great extent.
Although it wasn't a good start for "Akira," the film is expected to witness a growth in its business over the long weekend (Monday- Ganesh Chaturthi holiday). Also, with no other big tickets releasing this week alongside "Akira," it is expected to enjoy a good run for the next couple of days.
Further, since A R Murugadoss directorial received mixed reviews from the audience and critics alike, it has to heavily depend on word-of-mouth publicity.
Meanwhile, "Akira" has collected Rs.9 crore ($139,0000) in United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Gulf regions, thereby making it the highest opener for any women-centric action film in these regions.
