'Baahubali...' makes Rs.60 crore, turns highest opener!

Filmmaker S.S Rajamouli's magnum opus "Baahubali: The Beginning", the first part in a two-part war drama, has grossed approximately Rs.60 crore on its release day worldwide and filmmaker Karan Johar believes the film has emerged as "the highest opener ever".

"Unanimous critical acclaim and applause from across the country!! @ssrajamouli is the man of the moment and beyond...#Baahubali," Johar, who has associated with Rajamouli for the first time, posted on the micro-blogging site Twitter.

The 43-year-old, who is presenting the Hindi version of the film, also congratulated director Rajamouli and called him "man of the moment" in a tweet.

"Unanimous critical acclaim and applause from across the country!! @ssrajamouli is the man of the moment and beyond...#Baahubali," Johar wrote.

The film, that is said to have been made on a budget of Rs 250 crore, "may even reach Rs.100 crore club over the weekend", believes trade analyst Trinath.

"The Telugu version did extremely well. The Tamil and Hindi versions did decent business too. In Kerala, since the film managed to release in only 50 screens, it couldn't open big," he told IANS.

The film, which is about the battle between two brothers for an ancient kingdom, stars Prabhas, Rana Daggubati, Anushka Shetty and Tamannah Bhatia, Nasser and Ramya Krishnan in the lead roles.

In US alone, "Baahubali..." collected a whopping Rs.15 crore.

Produced by Arka Media Works, the film released in over 4,000 screens in Telugu, Hindi, Tamil and Malayalam.

"The Telugu version did extremely well. The Tamil and Hindi versions did decent business too. In Kerala, since the film managed to release in only 50 screens, it couldn't open big," said Trinath.