All Modi's fault? Pundits blame Sallu's meeting with PM for 'poor' Kick opening



Salman Khan's latest Eid biggie Kick opened to a Rs 26.4 crore domestic collection on Friday. Though this is the biggest first-day haul for any film in 2014, Kick has failed to match all-time records of opening day collections in Bollywood despite getting a mammoth release of 5,000 screens.

Sajid Nadiadwala's debut directorial feature grossed far behind Dhoom 3 (Rs 36.32 crore) and Shah Rukh Khan's Chennai Express (Rs 33.12 crore).

In fact, Kick has not even managed to surpass Salman's own record for day one. The superstar's biggest opening day collection remains Rs 32.90 crore, recorded by his 2012 Eid release, Ek Tha Tiger.



Slow start: A tiff between Salman and Mumbai photographers, weeks before the release of the film, is being seen as an additional reason for the film Kick's poor opening day

Salman's last release Jai Ho had a rather disappointing show in January this year, collecting Rs 17.55 crore on its opening day and only managing to cross the Rs 100 crore mark well after a fortnight.



Industry analysts have cited the Roza period as a big reason for the below-expectation start of the film, since young Muslims comprise a huge fan base for Salman.



A related reason being given is that while Salman has always been idolised by the Muslim youth, his increasing proximity to Prime Minister Narendra Modi has somewhat eroded his fan-base.



This was the impression given out by his fans on Twitter soon after Salman met Modi for a kite-flying event in Ahmedabad.



His father Salim Khan had also notably encouraged fans to vote for Modi before the general elections.

The tiff between Salman and Mumbai photographers, weeks before the release of the film, is also being seen as a factor.



The Mumbai photographers' association have imposed a ban on clicking Salman's pictures.



The trade, though, is optimistic, considering that there's no Hindi release next week.

"It is too early to decide the fate of the film as it released in the pre-Eid week. Many people refrained from watching films during Ramzaan. The real results will be out on Tuesday when the audience will go out to watch the film," said trade analyst Taran Adarsh.



Trade pundits are predicting that Kick will see a hike in its collection in the coming week.