The Coronavirus is brutal. But the Baaghi bug is even more powerful. In spite of the contagion threat, Baaghi 3 opened to a staggering Rs 17 crores in India, making it the biggest opener of 2020 so far.

Director Ahmed Khan breathes a sigh of relief. “We were really scared about what Coronavirus would do to our film. But we’ve managed to generate numbers equal to Baaghi and Baaghi 2 during these times when people are inclined to stay away from crowded places.”

Ahmed admits the film is hard hit in the high-end malls of Mumbai and Delhi. “We visited some of these and the malls look like ghost towns. It is really frightening. To our good fortune, the collections in single theatres and low-end multiplexes are stupendous. A place like Patna is gone crazy over Tiger’s stunts.”

Baaghi 3 did a business of 17 crores on the first day and 15 crores on the second day.

Says Ahmed, “If the collection is sustained then we have nothing to worry about. Our big threat now is Rohit Shetty’s Sooryavanshi which opens in two weeks. That will really affect the business of our film.”