Akshay Kumar and Parineeti Chopra starrer Kesari hit the silver screens on the occasion of Holi. The film, based on the true story of the Battle of Saragarhi fought between 21 courageous Sikhs and 10,000 Afghan invaders, managed to rake in Rs 21.50 crores at the box-office on the first day itself. Directed by Anurag Singh, Kesari recorded the highest opening day of 2019 by beating Ranveer Singh's and Alia Bhatt's Valentine's Day release Gully Boy, which had opened to Rs 19.40 crore. In fact, the first day collections of Kesari are only around Rs 3 crore less than the opening day collections of Akshay's last release, Gold.

On the second day, Kesari went on to mint Rs 16.70 crore, which is a 20% approx drop from the first day. Akshay's war saga was boosted by Holi in some places but adversely affected in others. The two day figures of the film now stand at Rs 37.76 crore and the film is expected to enjoy a jump on Saturday and Sunday.

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Kesari is clashing at the box-office with Abhimanyu Dassani and Radhika Madan starrer Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota, which has failed to impress the audience. After collecting around Rs 35 lakhs nett on day one, the Vasan Bala directorial minted Rs 30 lakhs nett on day two.