Mission Mangal box office collection: Akshay Kumar's space drama rakes in Rs 29.16 cr on opening day

As ISRO turned 50 years old, Mission Mangal, considered to be India's first space film hit the screens. The film, a retelling of India's first-ever mission to Mars, raked in a whopping Rs 29.16 crores at the box office, making it actor Akshay Kumar's highest opener till date.[caption id="attachment_7016961" align="alignnone" width="825"] A still from Mission Mangal trailer. YouTube screengrab[/caption]Akshay's last Independence Day release, Reema Kagti's Gold, made Rs 25.25 crores on its opening day.With Rs 29.16 crore, Mission Mangal has become the biggest Independence Day opening in the last three years, and the third highest opener ever on this day after Singham Returns (Rs 32 crore), and Ek Tha Tiger (Rs 31 crore). Released in over 3,000 screens, Mission Mangal also got the widest Independence Day release for a film in three years.Check out Mission Mangal's opening day box office figures hereBeating the opening day of Gold by 1.4 times, Mission Mangal has also become Akshay's biggest first-day collection in the South box office.Starring Taapsee Pannu, Vidya Balan, Sonakshi Sinha, Nithya Menen, Kirti Kulhari, HG Dattatreya and Sharman Joshi, apart from Akshay, the film has been helmed by Jagan Shakti.Kumar plays scientist Rakesh Dhawan, who, along with Balan's Tara Shinde, assembles a team of scientists from different backgrounds to send a satellite to Mars.While talking about the female-dominated cast, Akshay had said to Press Trust of India they are the real heroes of Mission Mangal, "The script demands them to be ahead. They are the real heroes. I am supposed to be behind them even though I am producing it. I am very happy to see these five girls, who are very big in their own way, and are not bothered that there are five of them in the film, come together."The film is produced by Cape of Good Films, Hope Productions, and Fox Star Studios. R Balki, who directed Kumar in Padman, is also a producer on Mission Mangal.