Akshay Kumar’s flying high: Airlift earns Rs 72.5cr in 5 days

Akshay Kumar is flying real high since Airlift, his new film with Nimrat Kaur, released on Friday. The movie, based on India’s evacuation of 1.7 lakh citizens from Kuwait during the 1990 Gulf war, raced to an impressive Rs 72.50 crore collection at the ticket windows within five days of hitting the screens.

Akshay Kumar is flying real high since Airlift, his new film with Nimrat Kaur, released on Friday. The movie, based on India’s evacuation of 1.7 lakh citizens from Kuwait during the 1990 Gulf war, raced to an impressive Rs 72.50 crore collection at the ticket windows within five days of hitting the screens.

Akshay Kumar plays Ranjit Katyal, an NRI businessman in Airlift.

After a great opening day (collecting Rs 12.35 crore), Airlift continued on its flight path over the weekend too: It collected Rs 14.60 crore, Rs 17.35 crore, Rs 10.40 crore, Rs 17.80 crore on Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday respectively. Trade analyst Taran Adarsh tweeted, “#Airlift Fri 12.35 cr, Sat 14.60 cr, Sun 17.35 cr, Mon 10.40 cr, Tue 17.80 cr. Total: ? 72.50 cr. India biz. Speeding towards ? 100 cr. FAB!”

Read: Airlift review

With three of his last films -- Gabbar (Rs 87.5cr) and Baby (Rs 95.56cr) and Brothers (Rs 52.5cr) -- failing to do justice to his tag as one of Bollywood’s most consistent A-listers, Airlift is sure to give him the much-needed boost.

Last year, Salman Khan ruled the box office with two releases - Bajrangi Bhaijaan and Prem Ratan Dhan Payo. While Bajrangi Bhaijaan, featuring Kareena Kapoor and Nawazuddin Siddiqui collected Rs 320, Sonam Kapoor-starrer Prem Ratan Dhan Payo earned Rs 210.