Shah Rukh Khan starrer Zero got released this Friday amidst a lot of expectations. Considering the excellent advance booking, it was expected that the movie would have record-breaking opening at the box office, but its first day collection did not go to that level.
Zero has had wonderful advance booking, and it was expected that the movie would have an opening day box office collection of over Rs 30 crore at the domestic market.
Although the morning shows ran with good occupancy in theatres across the country, the footfalls started to reduce towards the evening shows due to negative reviews from the critics.
Zero has a powerful star cast of Shah Rukh, Anushka Sharma and Katrina Kaif. In addition, it has been directed by critically acclaimed director Aanand L Rai. Hence, expectations with this film were huge.
Although the movie managed to rake in good money on day 1 at the Indian box office, the numbers were expected to be higher. Having been released on 4,380 screens across India, Zero collected Rs 20.14 crore at the domestic box office on first day.
"#Zero has underperformed on Day 1, despite extensive release [4380 screens] + #Christmas vacations... Sat and Sun biz extremely crucial... Fri ₹ 20.14 cr. India biz," trade analyst Taran Adarsh tweeted.
The numbers are likely to increase over the weekend, but bad word of mouth can adversely affect its collection in coming days. Nonetheless, Zero is likely to end the weekend with a good total.
After the debacle of Jab Harry Met Sejal, Shah Rukh needs a big hit, and Zero could have been the opportunity. However, only time will tell if the audience gives it the desired love in terms of box office numbers, or it again gets rejected.
