Highest box office openers of 2019: Kalank, Kesari and Gully Boy

Kalank, starring Alia Bhatt, Varun Dhawan, Madhuri Dixit, Sanjay Dutt, Sonakshi Sinha and Aditya Roy Kapur, has opened with a bang, earning Rs 21.60 crore on Wednesday. Film trade analyst Taran Adarsh has credited the film's grand opening to the 'impressive cast, hype and massive screen count'.

Kalank has also become the top opener of Alia Bhatt and Varun Dhawan's career. The movie might benefit from the five-day extended weekend and break some more box office records.

After Kalank, it is Akshay Kumar's Kesari which takes the second spot in the list of highest openers this year. Based on 1897's Battle of Saragarhi, in which 21 Sikh soldiers fought against 10,000 Afghan invaders, the film tugged at the hearts of cinephiles. The film managed to collect Rs 21.06 on the day of its release.

Helmed by Zoya Akhtar, Gully Boy, starring Ranveer Singh, Alia Bhatt and Siddhant Chaturvedi in lead roles, earned Rs 19.40 crore on its opening day. Trade analyst Taran Adarsh said that the Valentine Day release "rocked" theaters in metro cities and also became the second best opener of Ranveer's career after Simmba.

Multi-starrer Total Dhamaal earned Rs 16.50 crore on the day of its release despite being a non-holiday release. It benefited from having big names like Ajay Devgn, Madhuri Dixit, Anil Kapoor, Arshad Warsi and Riteish Deshmukh among others in its cast.

Brie Larson starrer Captain Marvel had a good start in India. The movie minted Rs 15.18 crore on its opening day. The movie also starred Ben Mendelsohn, Djimon Hounsou, Lee Pace, Lashana Lynch, Gemma Chan, Annette Bening and Jude Law.