Raja Shivaji box office: Riteish's film beats Sairat, up for biggest Marathi opening

Riteish Deshmukh's Raja Shivaji opened with the biggest advance booking ever for a Marathi film. Its pre-release numbers have already overtaken key benchmarks and set up a strong first day.

In Short

• Raja Shivaji is set for a phenomenal opening for a Marathi film
• It is already ahead of the top Marathi grossers, including Sairat
• The film's advance booking tells a good story

Riteish Deshmukh's Raja Shivaji has created a box office record even as it begins its run today. The film has already received the biggest opening ever for a Marathi film on the strength of advance bookings alone. Its pre-release sales have put it in position for a strong opening on day one, reported the trade website Sacnilk.

Also starring Riteish in the titular role, the film closed its advance booking at Rs 5.14 crore gross crore (without block seats). Of this, the original Marathi version alone contributed Rs 4.25 crore gross (Rs 3.60 crore nett), a figure that places the film at the top in terms of opening day collections among Marathi releases.

The advance sales are significant because Raja Shivaji has already matched major opening-day benchmarks before release. With Rs 3.60 crore nett in advance, the film has gone past the long-standing opening-day figures of Sairat and Timepass 2, which scored around Rs 3.60 crore nett each. Spot bookings and walk-ins are expected to push the final Day 1 total even higher.

The film's strong start has been led largely by its Marathi version, which has recorded solid occupancy across multiplexes and single screens in Maharashtra. The Hindi version has also picked up momentum in advance sales, with opening day figures already nearing Rs 1 crore gross before release.

Produced by Jio Studios and Mumbai Film Company, Raja Shivaji also features Abhishek Bachchan, Bhagyashree, Genelia Deshmukh, Sanjay Dutt and Vidya Balan, among others in key roles. The film also features superstar Salman Khan in a special role. It will be interesting to see how well it performs throughout its opening day across the country.

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