Hrithik, Tiger feel 'blessed' after 'War' breaks Day 1 record

Hrithik Roshan and Tiger Shroff's new action thriller "War" has broken all box-office records on day one, collecting Rs 53.35 crore, and the two stars have expressed joy and thanked fans.

The first-day collection of "War", when it opened on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti on October 2, makes it the biggest all-time holiday opener for a Hindi film, surpassing the day one collection of the Diwali 2018 release, "Thugs Of Hindostan". The Amitabh Bachchan-Aamir Khan-Katrina Kaif starrer had earned Rs 52.25 crore on release last year.

"It is an incredible response to our hard work and I'm truly grateful to the audience for loving our film. When we decided to make 'War', we were clear that we were attempting to do something that has never been done in Indian cinema and we went all out to make it happen. So, it's hugely validating to see the fantastic response of the people enjoying our action entertainer in the theatres. As an actor, you live and thrive for such moments and I'm truly blessed that our film is getting such overwhelming love. I congratulate my partner in crime Tiger, my director Sid, YRF for its belief and the incredible effort to make this film spectacular, Vaani and everyone associated with this film at this incredible moment. The entire team worked really really hard on War and it's amazing to see this kind of euphoria around our movie," Hrithik said on Thursday.

Tiger on his part said that he feels blessed to be "getting this love and appreciation" from people.

"I'm touched by the fantastic response that our film has been getting from audiences across India. I have no words to describe what I'm feeling right now except that I feel blessed to be getting this love and appreciation from people. I have always wanted my films to be out and out entertainers, films that make people happy in theatres and I'm glad that 'War' has become that film," said Tiger.

"I feel blessed to have this opportunity to work side by side with Hrithik who has been my hero and idol. Just this opportunity is a victory in itself for me. I would like to thank and congratulate (producer) Aditya Chopra, Hrithik sir, my director Sid (Siddharth Anand), YRF for going all guns blazing to make this a spectacle, (the film's heroine) Vaani (Kapoor) and every single person associated with this film. This has truly been an incredible team effort," added Tiger, about working in the film directed by Siddharth Anand.

Film trade anaylyst Taran Adarsh had earlier tweeted: "'War' creates history... Sets new benchmarks for Hindi films... Big holiday (Gandhi Jayanti) plus unprecedented hype results in mind boggling day 1 total... Crosses the previous best - Thugs Of Hindostan (Rs. 52.25 crore) - by a margin, despite lower screen count."

Produced by Yash Raj Films (YRF), "War" released in 4000 screens.