Imtiaz Ali directed Love Aaj Kal starring Saif Ali Khan and Deepika Padukone had one of the widest worldwide releases for a Bollywood film with 1800 prints this week. Big city multiplexes in India had opened with 16-18-20 shows per day and their confidence proved right what with the bumper opening the film has received in its first three days. Single screens in the B and C centers have shown collections on the lower side but then again this film isn’t targeted at them.

Not only this week’s only Hindi release, Saif Ali Khan’s maiden production Love Aaj Kal has taken the biggest opening of the 2009 but has also broken opening weekend collections of biggies such as Kambakkht Ishq, Singh Is Kinng and Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi. Kareena, Saif,Deepika and the whole team of Love Aaj Kal are flying high in the cloud nine as Love Aaj Kal tops at boxoffice collection. So encouraging are its overseas collections that it looks definite to surpass Singh Is Kinng’s collections which are considered the biggest ever abroad for a non Shah Rukh Khan starrer. Down South, superstar Chiranjeevi’s son Ram Charan Teja starrer Magadheera (Telugu) has opened to record shattering collections as well.
In the multiplexes Love Aaj Kal opened to 90 per cent occupancy on Friday whereas single screens opened to 65 percent. In Mumbai alone the film went on to gross on Rs 3.30 crore net collections on day one. Its overall first day net collections were Rs 8.25 crore. On the weekend, crowds increased at both multiplexes and single screens and many big city multiplexes recorded 100 per cent occupancy with single screens showing a rise in their collections by 10 per cent. With a strong weekend, the overall first three days net collections of Love Aaj Kal have been a whopping Rs 27 crore. The film has been fairing very well in the North apart from Mumbai.

In the overseas, on day one, the film had grossed $260,000 in the US and £125,000 in the UK. Its over all overseas opening weekend nett collections are a huge Rs. 15 crore. In the UK it has taken the 9th highest opening ever for a Hindi film. Its first day collections are better than Singh Is Kinng, Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi and Ghajini. But Love Aaj Kal’s collections down South in India have been a little less as compared to those in the North but that’s due to the arrival of Telugu biggie Magadheera. Tickets for this re-incarnation flick are being sold in black for as high as Rs 1000 per ticket.

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