Happy New Year Box Office Opening: Early Reports

Happy New Year has taken an outstanding opening all over on Friday at the domestic box office. The early morning reports suggest that most shows held as early as 7 in the morning are packed to capacity.

The opening that Happy New Year has taken is on-par with expectations from a Shahrukh Khan Diwali release and the advance booking for the rest of the day is incredible too.

The occupancy for the early morning shows at 4-5 centres that we tracked is about 20-25% higher than Bang Bang, and even better than Singham Returns which suggests that the film is on course to post a total of at least 30 cr+ on its opening day.

What’s also heartening is that Happy New Year has also taken a fantastic start at single-screen theatres.

Updates (Keep refreshing the page, as we post regular updates from various centres across the country)

• Hyderabad – All morning shows packed to capacity. 90-100% opening here and we are talking about shows that start at 8:45AM! At multiplexes in prime localities, very few tickets of Happy New Year are available. If you live in Hyderabad, grab those tickets now before they are sold out!
• Bangalore – Most shows here start only at 9:45am onwards. But we have been informed that Happy New Year is set to take the best start of 2014 here. Hundreds already at theatres to catch the first show. The advance booking for the day is also outstanding, as good as Dhoom 3, no less!
• Mumbai (city) – Shows as early as 8AM were packed to capacity here. Most shows start 9:30 onwards, but many of those first-day-first-show tickets are sold out. If you prefer purchasing your tickets directly at theatres, instead of booking it online, be prepared to stand in long queues.
• Pune – A cinepolis multiplex in Hadapsar has 38 shows of Happy New Year, but guess what, 80-90%  opening for the frst 5 morning shows that started as early as 8:15AM. Incredible.
• Kolkata – SRK reigns supreme yet again, he is literally worshipped here. 9AM shows at multiplexes packed. Full house. No seats available. Throughout the city, very few tickets are available for the rest of the day.
• Mangalore – The coastal city of India where Shahrukh Khan spent a few years of his childhood, has opened to fairly good response for a small city. 3 multiplexes running to 75% plus occupancy. Newly opened PVR theatre, sold out morning shows.

Overall, very good opening for Happy New Year at the box office. If the film sustains through the day, it could record the highest single day collections. Will it touch the 40 cr mark?