‘Raja Shivaji’, director and star Riteish Deshmukh in the role of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharajis headed for a record opening at the box office. Early box office reports indicate that strong advance booking trends could propel the Marathi film to a record opening.Sacnilk reports that the Marathi version of the film has already collected Rs 3 crore in Day 1 presales. This includes blocked seats. The report says that at the current pace, the latest progress figures may go even higher, particularly along the Maharashtra belt.The film is also releasing in Hindi, and according to the early booking trends, it can earn approximately 2 crores. If the film is to record a double-digit opening, a lot would depend on the Hindi and Telugu formats to help it cross the Rs 10 crore mark.Despite the multi-lingual strategy, the film’s major business is expected to come from Maharashtra. With the film releasing on the Maharashtra Day holiday on May 1, trade reports indicate that the film is likely to witness higher box-office and is likely to increase its box-office, thereby contributing to a strong opening day performance.With ‘Raja Shivaji’ getting a clean double-digit opening, the Hindi version should exceed expectations. In terms of gross collection, trade analysts believe that the film could comfortably run between 8-10 crores on Day 1.Regardless of the going mark, the film is almost certain to register the biggest release for a Marathi film. The current record is held by ‘Sairat’ and ‘Timepass 2’, both of which opened around 3.60 crores. Going by the advance booking trends, ‘Raja Shivaji’ is expected to surpass these numbers.The film has an ensemble cast Sanjay DuttAbhishek Bachchan, Vidya Balan, Mahesh Manjrekar, Sachin Khedekar, Bhagyashree, Fardeen Khan, Jitendra Joshi, Boman Irani, Amol Gupte and Genelia Deshmukh.
