Despite trenchant reviews, Vijay Krishna Acharya’s Thugs of Hindostan made a reported Rs 48.5 crores on the first day of its release. The Aamir Khan-Amitabh Bachchan-starrer was released on November 8 on 5,000 screens in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu in 2D and 2D IMAX formats.

Also starring Katrina Kaif and Fatima Sana Shaikh, the pre-Independence drama follows confidence trickster Firangi (Aamir Khan), who infiltrates a gang of freedom fighters headed by Khudabaksh (Amitabh Bachchan). All eyes are now on the rest of the extended opening weekend. Given the poor reviews, the period drama will be aiming to reap the benefits of a release during the lucrative Diwali period.

The Yash Raj Films production was the only Hindi movie to be released on Diwali. In southern territories, Thugs of Hindostan had to compete with AR Murugadoss’s Tamil movie Sarkar, starring Vijay, which was released across the south on November 6.

Thugs of Hindostan is one of the most heavily lampooned A-list productions in recent memory. Twitter users have resorted to creative ways to describe their experience of watching the 164-minute film.