Do propogandists and keyboard warriors know the mood of the nation?

Ae Dil Hai Mushkil has opened well at the box office despite the clash with Shivaay. The initial is around 35-40% on average which is actually good if you consider its pre Diwali. The film is being led by the high end multiplexes and some of these even managed to take a 50% start. If it was a normal day it would be putting up a strong first number as city youth has come initially but with pre Diwali its hard to tell how much of the evening audience will come out. The anti Pakistan wave across the country does not seem to have affected the film. There was a similar type of issue when the Shahrukh Khan starrer Dilwale released and markets like North, Central and Gujarat under performed very badly. Here North and Gujarat seem fine while Central was anyway not expected to be good for this type of film. Though the weekend and Monday collections will tell more.

Shivaay has taken a lower opening at around 25% as its business at multiplexes in most parts of the country is lower than Ae Dil Hai Mushkil. The film despite being an action film is hit much more than Ae Dil Hai Mushkil by pre Diwali as the mass markets remain very low till Monday. The Muslim mass centres in places like UP and Gujarat could have opened better as they are less into Diwali festivities but the film has a name like Shivaay which probably takes some of the audience away in these centres. The film will find it tough going until the audience comes back at these mass centres on Monday and then teh film will need the reports to be good enough to get the full benefit of the big holiday period.

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The advance results of Ae Dil Hai Mushkil and Shivaay are not up to the mark for such big releases but that is expected due to Diwali. Ae Dil Hai Mushkil has taken a good lead at multiplexes in the bigger centres while Shivaay is ahead in smaller cities. The overall lead is healthy for Ae Dil Hai Mushkil mainly because there is a trend of more advance in the big centres and the advance of Shivaay started in large on Wednesday as against Monday of Ae Dil Hai Mushkil. This would suggest a better opening day number for Ae Dil Hai Mushkil but there is the factor about the how the on the day audience behaves as there is an anti Pakistan stance in the country and the media has done a good job of making this Ranbir Kapoor starrer look like a Fawad Khan starrer though he may hardly be in the film.

The problem with Shivaay is that its best areas are hit by pre Diwali much more than the best markets for Ae Dil Hai Mushkil. Places like UP, Gujarat, Bihar, CP Berar, CI and Rajasthan are affected hugely by pre Diwali and only really start collecting from Monday onward. Shivaay is still looking to collect more than Ae Dil Hai Mushkil in these areas but the margins are going to much less than if it was a normal period. The advantage for Shivaay is that is the potential to jump more on Monday than Ae Dil Hai Mushkil as these circuits will have huge growth on Monday but reports will have to support. South India is hardly affected by pre Diwali and Ae Dil Hai Mushkil has a bigger draw down there and could be double of Shivaay in Mysore. Delhi and the big cities of Punjab are also better for Ae Dil Hai Mushkil but these markets will also come to the fore on Monday.

Actually both films should have been released on Monday but with a clash it is harder as both parties have to agree as you can't have one on Friday and the other Monday because theatre bookings are for a week and the Monday film would have had issues getting the optimum screens.