Student of The Year has a lead over Hero and Heropanti in the opening weekend

Salman Khan's Hero starring Sooraj Pancholi and Athiya Shetty fared well in the weekend as it raked in Rs 21.47 crore.

The film is the second highest opener for a new comers, however the collections are a little below the expectation. With Salman Khan backing the project and a chartbuster song like 'Main Hoon Hero Tera', the film was expected to breach past the 25 crore weekend mark.

Hero day-wise Box-Office collections:

• Friday - Rs 6.85 crore
• Saturday - Rs 6.62 crore
• Sunday - Rs 8.00 crore

Centres contributing majorly to the business of Hero are Mumbai, C.P, C.I, Rajasthan and Gujarat. The business picked up in North India however despite that, the collections in the territory are below expectations.

Top 3 opening weekends of debutants:

• Student of The Year - Rs 27.50 crore
• Hero - Rs 21.47 crore
• Heropanti - Rs 21.00 crore

The film faced competition from Welcome Back, which in its second weekend collected a pretty strong amount of Rs 12 crore plus. The real test for Hero starts today as the collections on Monday will decide where the film is heading towards in its lifetime run.

Also read: Sooraj Pancholi-Athiya Shetty's Hero beats Heropanti at the Box Office

The reviews are mainly negative while the initial word of mouth seems to be mixed. Hero will face competition from Katti Batti in the multiplexes from its second week however single screens will retain Hero, if it manages to get a good hold over the weekdays.