Box Office: Taapsee Pannu's 'Naam Shabana' opens better than her 'Pink'; Akshay Kumar's the reason?

Taapsee Pannu has reasons to smile. Her Naam Shabana has opened better than her last major release, Pink. The film, with Amitabh Bachchan as a major catalyst, had taken a start of Rs 4.32 crore. Now Naam Shabana, which has Akshay Kumar in an extended special appearance, has brought in 5.12 crore on its first day. 

With the numbers seeing a jump for her from one film to another, Taapsee has indeed managed to find an audience for herself where she is the central protagonist. This could have been considered as a very good number though had the release been smaller. However, since Naam Shabana has arrived on more than 2000 screens, there was a much larger window available for the film to perform. Also, there is a star presence in the form of Akshay Kumar who has at least 15-20 minutes of appearance in the film. In that perspective, a number of 5.12 crore is in an above average zone, though there is scope now for it to grow further today and tomorrow.
 
The film's start is decent enough and that keeps it well in contention to go past the safety mark. However, for that at least a bit of growth is indeed over the weekend so that weekdays have a chance to stay stable. The film should targeting a lifetime in excess of 30 crore (all action dramas with females as a central protagonist, be it Jai Gangaajal, Akira, Mardaani or NH10) have managed that. Anything over and above that would be a good bonus to enjoy for Naam Shabana. Reviews for the film are mixed (they range from okay to good) which means at the end of the day, it would finally be the call of the audience.
 
Note: All collections as per production and distribution sources