Akshay Kumar-starrer historical drama ‘Kesari’ has registered a smashing opening at the box office in Australia, cementing itself at number 7 in the country.
According to Bollywood Hungama, the film grossed over $300,000 in its first weekend in Australia, making it the second highest opener film of Khiladi Kumar’s career after his last outing in sports drama, 'Gold'.
The film’s plot is based on the Battle of Saraghari in 1897 which witnessed the valour of 21 Sikh soldiers who defied thousands of Afghan invaders attacking the military outpost of Saraghari in the Khyber Pass.
But as is the norm of an Akshay starrer film, AK is doing most of the heavy lifting and he doesn’t disappoint.
The action hero pulls off the role of Havildar Ishar Singh with aplomb keeping the Kesari padgi aloft while delivering potent dialogues that keep the audiences engaged till the very end.
Vibha Chopra, the head of Zee Studios International, which has backed the film in partnership with Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions, said the film has received an overwhelming response globally.
“There is an incredibly large audience across the world that appreciates a visually stunning cinema combined with a powerful narrative and we have received an overwhelming response globally,” said Ms Chopra.
Delhi-based film critic Amrit Mann told SBS Punjabi that Australia has established itself as a reliable market for Indian films over the recent past.
“Distributors no longer hesitate to spend big bucks abroad. In fact, in some cases, countries like the UK, Canada and recently even Australia have done unstoppable business for producers," said Ms Mann.
“Films like 'Padmaavat', 'Dangal', 'Baahubali 2', 'Sultan', and even Punjabi films like 'Love Punjab' and 'Harjeeta' have raked in big numbers recently,” she added.
Besides Australia, the Anurag Singh-directed film 'Kesari' has also had a good run in Canada, New Zealand, Fiji, Netherlands and the UK box offices.
Meanwhile, in India, the film has surpassed the recent collections of movies like 'Gully Boy' and 'Total Dhamaal', emerging as the fastest film to cross the Rs 100 crore mark in 2019.
