Salman Khan-Katrina Kaif starrer "Tiger 3" has received phenomenal response from the audiences with over 60,000 tickets sold on the first day of the advance booking, according to exhibitors and trade experts.

The Yash Raj Films project, directed by Maneesh Sharma, is a sequel to the 2017 film "Tiger Zinda Hai" and releases on November 12, the day of Diwali. The advance booking for the film opened on Sunday.

"Despite the movie releasing on the Diwali day, we have already generated an advance ticket sales of 100,000 tickets, including 60,000 for the 1st day. Considering the huge fan following of Salman Khan across the country, and with its dubbed versions in Tamil and Telugu, the movie has been able to attract audience attention beyond the Hindi belt," Sanjeev Kumar Bijli, Executive Director, PVR INOX Limited, said in statement.

Bijli believes the film may cross Rs 200 crore mark in its first week due to the long festive weekend. Well-known trade expert Taran Adarsh said that while advance sales for "Tiger 3" are encouraging, it wouldn't be right to compare these figures to the enormous reaction that Shah Rukh Khan's films "Pathaan" and "Jawan" achieved because of the timing of the release.

"As a film, the advance booking opened to a very good response. Till morning, in the National chain - PVR, INOX and Cinepolis about 63,000 tickets were sold. You can’t compare it with ‘Jawan’ and ‘Pathaan’,” Adarsh told PTI.

"This film is releasing on Sunday, on Diwali day, when Laxmi puja is happening in the evening, so people might go on Monday or might go for a spot or current booking. It is a bit too early, we will get clarity closer to the release. As of now, it is excellent,” he said.

Trade analyst Atul Mohan said "Tiger 3" has shown "decent" advance sales and may register an opening anywhere between Rs 35 to Rs 40 crore.

"The advance booking is decent. The ticket sales will rise closer to the release. We have to consider the fact that the film is releasing on Sunday, on Diwali day, so not many people will go to theatres to watch it.

"However, if the buzz around the movie is good then it will do exceedingly well from Monday onwards. The film might open at Rs 35-40 crore and it may continue to do more business as it's a holiday period," Mohan told PTI.

The excitement around the release of the film may not match up to that of Shah Rukh Khan's previous releases "Pathaan" and "Jawan" because Salman Khan's previous films haven't done well at the box office, Mohan said.

"Post the release of 'Pathaan', Shah Rukh Khan rose to prominence again and its success had an effect on his next release, 'Jawan'. While, Salman Khan’s last few releases underperformed at the box office," he said.

Salman's last theatrical release was "Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan" in April this year.

"Today, a film earning Rs 100 crore at the box office is not enough, he needs a Rs 200-300 crore hit. So, there’s a pressure because he is Salman Khan and the Tiger franchise is huge," he added.

The buzz around “Tiger” is not that great in southern India because the movie is not set in the region and it opens on a Sunday, said Chennai-based trade analyst Ramesh Bala.

According to Bala, south Indian audience is enthusiastic about regional Diwali releases such as “Japan” (Tamil), featuring actor Karthi, director Karthik Subbaraj’s “Jigarthanda Double X” (Tamil), “Raid” with Vikram Prabhu and Sri Divya, actor Dileep-starrer “Bandra” (Malayalam), and Rakshit Shetty’s “Sapta Saagaradaache Ello – Side B” (Kannada).

"The two big films in the South are 'Japan’ and ‘Jigarthanda Double X’. In the South, it (advance booking for ‘Tiger 3’) is slow because we have our own movies coming up in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam. People here are looking at Friday, south Diwali releases and not Hindi releases that’s happening on Sunday, maybe people start looking at buying tickets closer to the weekend," he said.

The trade analyst believes that while "Tiger 3" could perform well in places like Bangalore, Hyderabad, and Chennai, positive word-of-mouth is necessary for the movie to garner support all over south India.

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