Zee Studios’ latest film, Rustom, starring Akshay Kumar has broken the actor’s previous film’s record for the first week box office collections in India. Released on 12 August 2016, the film has had a very successful opening week in India – taking a total of Rs 90.90 crores. Released in 2,317 screens in India, the film ranks as the highest-ever opening week for an Akshay Kumar film. This Saturday, in its second week, Rustom earned a whopping Rs 101.08 cores making it Akshay Kumar’s third back-to-back century.
It surpasses two 2016 hits, Airlift’s 83.5 crore and Housefull 3’s 80.10 crore and is the second biggest Hindi earner this year in its first week. Directed by Tinu Suresh Desai, the film is about a Navy Commander who is accused of killing his wife’s lover and is Kumar’s sixth hit to enter the 100 crore club. The actor’s other films are Housefull 3, Airlift, Holiday – A Soldier Is Never Off Duty, Rowdy Rathore and Housefull 2.
The film was released overseas in 43 countries with a smart and focussed release plan keeping in mind that it is an Akshay Kumar film. The overseas audience has responded very positively and the film is strongly poised to give very good results at the overseas box office as well. Overseas also saw a marketing innovation in the form of flash mobs across five major cities in the USA, Canada and UK. The film was marketed completely by Zee Studios globally, bringing on board the might of ZEE platforms overseas and even ZEE regional platforms to mount the film bigger.
The film has received a great response and its first & second week collections have set new benchmarks. Overseas, ZEE is the biggest platform and that is a clear advantage for Zee Studios from a marketing & distribution angle. The film has done a business of $4 million approx from the overseas market so far and this was made possible by capitalising on the might of all ZEE platforms worldwide. With Rustom, the regional Indian markets were tapped by bringing on board the ZEE regional channels which boosted the film’s reach tremendously. There was great synergy between the advertising, PR, digital and ground promotion teams.
Rustom is produced by Zee Studios and Kriarj Entertainment in association with Cape of Good Films and Plan C Studios production.