Neyyattinkara Gopante Aaraattu, or simply Aaraattu had a good opening day at the Malayalam box office. The Mohanlal starrer action comedy grossed Rs. 3.50 crores approx in Kerala and another Rs. 45-50 lakhs in rest of India for the overall domestic opening day of Rs. 4 crores approx. The film recorded the highest opening day of the year in Kerala overtaking Hridayam, while third highest in recent times behind Marakkar and Kurup.
The opening day box office collections of the last few Mohanlal movies at the Kerala box office are as follows:
Aaraattu - Rs. 3.50 crores approx (50% capacity)
Marakkar: Arabikadlinte Simham - Rs. 6.27 crores (50% capacity)
Big Brother - Rs. 1.72 crores
Ittymaani: Made in China - Rs. 1.66 crores
Lucifer - Rs. 6.05 crores
Odiyan - Rs. 7.10 crores
Generally speaking, a Rs. 3 crores plus start is obviously big, but it isn’t nearly as high as Mohanlal’s highs have been in recent times like Odiyan or Marakkar or Lucifer, all three went over Rs. 6 crores on their opening days in Kerala. Granted those three were carrying a very high buzz, but a number north of Rs. 4 crores, probably closer to Rs. 5 crores would have been prefered. On the brighter side of things, the presales on Thursday night or the way the morning shows started yesterday, they were suggesting an opening in the roundabouts of low Rs. 3 crores. In the end, it was a bit better than feared due to strong occupancies during night shows. The reason for the lower number is said to be distaste left by the negative reception of the previous Lal movie Marakkar released last year. 
