Stills from Dilwale and Bajirao Mastani.
Sanjay Leela Bhansali's
Bajirao Mastani and Rohit Shetty's
Dilwale released together on December 18. Industry experts believe that this clash will strongly impact the box office.
Bajirao Mastani collected Rs 12.8 crores on the first day of its release while
Dilwale trailed much ahead as it collected Rs 21 crore.
Trade analyst Taran Adarsh tweeted the figures:
In Australia and New Zealand also,
Dilwale opened to a 'terrific' response:
Bajirao Mastani opened to a slow start:
An analysis by
Box Office India claimed that
Dilwale had an occupancy of 65% while
Bajirao Mastani lagged behind at 30%.(Also Read:
In Dilwale vs Bajirao Mastani, Round One Goes to This Film)
Bajirao Mastani casts Ranveer as the Maratha leader Peshwa Bajirao I, Deepika as his warrior queen Mastani and Priyanka as his first wife Kashibai. It has also been received well by the critics. In his review for NDTV, Saibal Chatterjee wrote, "
Bajirao Mastani is, in many respects, Bhansali's most subversive film to date. Its central message is that all religions preach love but love has no religion."
For
Dilwale, Mr Chatterjee wrote, "To put it simply, Dilwale is a bizarre love story. SRK has done his share of bizarre love stories in his time, but this one just doesn't get off the ground despite the superstar's best efforts."