‘Raja Shivaji’ had a historic opening at the domestic box office as it debuted in theaters on Maharashtra Day. The film starring and directed by Riteish Deshmukh was a huge hit as it grossed Rs 11 crore on the first day.Raja Shivaji at Marathi box officeAccording to a report on Sacnilk, the film earned an impressive Rs 8 crore nett on Friday, from its Marathi version alone. This places the film at the top of the list of highest collections of Marathi film debuts.The historical action drama managed to surpass this milestone with just 1,941 performances, recording a strong average occupancy of 68%. This record-breaking start comes after the film registered exceptional advance booking, which was already a good start for the film.Prior to its release, Raja Shivaji closed pre-sales with a total of Rs 5.14 crore, of which an estimated total of Rs 4.25 crore (nett Rs 3.60 crore) was collected from the original Marathi version alone. With this, the film comfortably surpassed the long-standing first day records of ‘Sairat’ and ‘Timepass 2’, both of which earned an estimated Rs 3.60 crore nett on their opening days.The film’s exceptional start was largely driven by its Marathi version, which registered strong occupancy across multiplexes and single screens alike in Maharashtra.
While the Marathi version of the film earned an estimated Rs 8 crore, the addition of Rs 3.35 crore from the film’s Hindi offerings, helped push its total collection past the Rs 10 crore mark and earn a total collection of Rs 11.35 crore. According to early box office trends, it was reported that the film will rely on the Hindi format to help cross the Rs 10 crore mark.The film features an ensemble cast that includes Sanjay Dutt, Abhishek Bachchan, Vidya Balan, Mahesh Manjrekar, Sachin Khedekar, Bhagyashree, Fardeen Khan, Jitendra Joshi, Boman Irani, Amol Gupte and Genelia Deshmukh. It also stars Salman Khan in a cameo role.
