Salman Khan starrer Tiger Zinda Hai brought cheer to the box-office as a subdued 2017 comes to a close.

According to multiplex players and trade analysts, the second movie in the Tiger series, which hit the screens on Friday, could earn box-office collections in the range of ₹35-40 crore on the opening day. They are also betting big on the movie to become the top Hindi grosser of the year.

“The movie has picked off to a flying start and will be a blockbuster and has the potential to become the biggest grosser of the year,” said trade analyst Komal Nahta.

“The movie has had an extraordinary start and giving the much-needed boost to the box-office. It could also beat the record in terms of the highest opening day collections of a Hindi movie released on a non-holiday and was set by Dhoom-3, ” said film trade analyst Girish Johar. The first instalment in the series, Ek Tha Tiger , released in 2012, had opened with an estimated ₹32.92 crore at the box-office on the first day. Dhoom-3 , which released in 2013, garnered about ₹36.22 crore on the opening day.

Tiger Zinda Hai is an action thriller directed by Ali Abbas Zafar and produced by Yash Raj Films. According to industry estimates, the movie has opened in about 4,500-4,600 screens in the domestic market, and in about 1,100 screens in overseas territories.

PV Sunil, Manging Director, Carnival Cinemas said: “We are witnessing strong occupancy levels of 80-88 per cent on the first day and are seeing strong advance booking trends. We believe the movie will cross the ₹100-crore mark during this long holiday weekend.”

Multiplex players are hoping that the good performance of the movie will turn the tide for the box-office. According to industry estimates, the annual box-office collections in 2017 were down by 10-15 per cent after several top-starrer movies failed to deliver. Salman Khan’s other release this year, Tubelight , had also performed a tad lower than industry expectations at the box-office.

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