Housefull 5 scored a good opening day as it collected 22 crore nett with strong collections in practically all the circuits. The film came up well in current although the advances suggested a lower opening. The opening is comfortably the highest for the franchise and its the first time that the franchise has gone over 20 crore nett but franchise value is also much higher today than when the last film was released. Rajasthan looks best followed by Delhi / UP.

The film has done well to get to this mark but when a franchise film gives an initial push it also has the expectations from the previous and here Housefull 5 is a genuine sequel / series film and not like a Kesari where a lesser number still is okay as that sequel factor is an after thought and the film has not been made as a sequel. Eventually the film has to go higher or similar to the last film and time will tell if the initial is good enough for that.

The relief is that the film has got over 20 crore which looked a best case scenario on Thursday night and its about the film going on from here and its a holiday weekend with Eid falling on Saturday though it will be limited help on Saturday as Saturday normally grows well anyway. Here it should be a bit more than normal.

The Housefull series has always done well post the initial and t remains to be seen if the same happens here and if it does it will be a sure shot winner. The difference here is the film is more for the youth than families as per the reports but first day has seen very good collections in a state like Gujarat so maybe it could be fine with families also. The collections in Gujarat are pretty similar to Chaavva which opened best this year in that circuit.

Overall a good start and the weekend should also be strong but its all going to be about that crucial Monday and a hold which allows it to run for a few weeks.