Ranbir Kapoor has shown once again that when it comes to a quintessential romantic musical tale with a dash of drama, he has a loyal fan following waiting to grab him with both hands. His experiments with Besharam, Roy and Bombay Velvet notwithstanding, he did make some amends (at least to some extent) with Tamasha (10.87 crore). However, with Ae Dil Hai Mushkil he has managed to come back with good force behind him, what with Karan Johar stepping in as a director, Pritam and Amitabh Bhattacharya handling the music/lyrics department and Anushka Sharma as a solid pairing opposite him. Result? A good opening in theaters.

This reflects in the first day numbers of 13.30 crore which are more than what one would have expected from it even till a week before its release. Still, the fact that the film has managed such collections is good enough news for all associated with it since from this point on, all that this Fox film needs is stability right through the weekend before it can put up big numbers on Monday.

In the process, the film has also managed to enter the Top-5 Day One collections when it comes to films that have romance as an inherent element. Here is the list:

Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani – 19.45 crore

Dilwale – 21 crore

Ram Leela – 15.73 crore

Jab Tak Hai Jaan – 15.23 crore

Ae Dil Hai Mushkil – 13.30 crore

Shaandaar – 13.1 crore

What is notable is the fact that Ranbir Kapoor leads from the front with Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani and now with Ae Dil Hai Mushkil entering the fray as well, he is the only young star to have two of his films feature in this list. Veteran Shah Rukh Khan has a couple of films in there while Varun Dhawan and Ranveer Singh have a film apiece.

As for Anushka Sharma, she too has a couple of films to her name in this list and she is the only one to feature opposite a young star [Ranbir Kapoor] as well as a veteran [Shah Rukh Khan] and still make a good pairing.

Note: All collections as per production and distribution sources

Joginder Tuteja tweets @tutejajoginder