"Kalank becomes the highest opener of 2019!"
Abhishek Varman’s period drama film Kalank is a box office success after grossing Rs. 21.6 Crore (£2.4 million) on its opening day of release.
It surpassed Akshay Kumar’s film Kesari to become the highest-opening film of 2019. Other films that Kalank did better than include Gully Boy and Total Dhamaal.
The film’s success comes even though it released on April 17, 2019, to mixed reviews. Many said that the 2 hours and 48-minute runtime was too long. They also said that its storyline was not strong enough.
While some people have called it overcrowded, others have said it is “drop-dead gorgeous”.
The ambitious project may have been a mid-week release, but that has not stopped it from opening to a great response at the international box office.
Kalank collected a respectable Rs. 5.14 Crore (£570,000) from the overseas markets.
Film critic and trade analyst Taran Adarsh tweeted a breakdown of how much the film made in the major areas of the world.
A midweek release [Wed], #Kalank opens well #Overseas… Wed total: $ 740k [? 5.14 cr]…
North America: $ 270k
UK: £ 141k
Middle East: $ 115k
Australia: A$ 128k, biggest opener of 2019— taran adarsh (@taran_adarsh) April 18, 2019
Kalank is co-produced by Fox Star Studios, Dharma Productions and Nadiadwala Grandson Entertainment.
The previous number one of 2019, Kesari, was coincidentally also produced by Dharma Productions.
It was said that the film’s concept was thought of by the late Yash Johar and his son Karan Johar, about fifteen years ago.
However, the film remained in the backlog until Karan decided to revive it in 2018.
Karan was one of the first to state that the film had made Rs. 21.6 Crore (£2.4 million) on its first day.
He tweeted alongside the film’s poster:
“Eternal love always wins. Kalank becomes the highest opener of 2019! Watch it in cinemas now.”
Kalank features an all-star cast which may have contributed to its box office success.
Sanjay Dutt, Madhuri Dixit, Varun Dhawan, Alia Bhatt, Aditya Roy Kapur and Sonakshi Sinha all have leading roles.
Along with the different themes of love, the period drama highlights the trials and tribulations of love with the spotlight on communal tensions.
The film is set in 1945 in the pre-independence British era.
It is worth noting that Kalank the biggest opener of Varun Dhawan and Alia Bhatt to date.
It is likely that the film will grow significantly at the box office as there is an extended weekend to look forward to.