Aiyaary has taken poor opening 10-15% but Black Panther has taken over the box office with an excellent opening of 40-45%. The film may not be the superhero type of film for the Indian audiences but the extraordinary feedback from the West has meant a very strong opening in all metros. Then on top there is action for the non metro audience to take a decent start there.

The Hindi release Aiyaary mainly has the problem of genre which struggles in India. The film is a spy thriller and when a film falls in that thriller genre it makes it tough. A spy action film and then its a different story but most makers today tend to go the thriller way with spy films discounting Tiger Zinda Hai.

A film of this genre has to open as growth is not going to type that concept films can get so its going to an uphill battle for Aiyaary. Black Panther looks set to for a good run and has even hit the figures of holdover release Pad Man and to an extent Padmaavat but that film was at a lower level last week.

The opening comparison of the opening show collections of Aiyaary, Ittefaq and A Gentleman can be seen below. A Gentleman is actually the best opener though obviously films like Aiyaari and Ittefaq have more chance to grow in the evening. But unless the growth is substantial it becomes a similar story as the ground lost is slowly made up in the evening. All the figures below are like for like.

Mumbai (45 Cinemas)

Aiyaary - 2,011 admits

Ittefaq - 2,265 admits

A Gentleman - 2,076 admits

Delhi (25 cinemas)

Aiyaary - 1,087 admits

Ittefaq - 962 admits

A Gentleman - 1,167 admits

Chandigarh (8 Cinemas)

Aiyaary - 377 admits

Ittefaq - 298 admits

A Gentleman - 384 admits

Jaipur (10 cinemas)

Aiyaary - 379 admits

Ittefaq - 287 admits

A Gentleman - 405 admits

TOTAL (88 cnemas)

Aiyaary - 3,854 admits

Ittefaq - 3,812 admits

A Gentleman - 4,032 admits