After being appreciated for her performance in female-centric "Ishqiya", "No One Killed Jessica" and "The Dirty Picture", actress Vidya Balan carries forwards the legacy of hits with "Kahaani", which has reportedly collected Rs.2.95 crore on its opening day.

Released Friday, the drama-thriller made at a shoestring budget of Rs.8 crore is receiving positive response from both the critics and audiences

"The film has opened very well. The collection in India on Friday was Rs. 2.95 crore and on Saturday it earned Rs. 4.5 crore. A full-pack show is expected on Sunday. The film will definitely survive for over a week," Taran Adarsh told IANS.

In director Sujoy Ghosh's Vidya is cast as a software programmer. She comes to Kolkata from London in search of her husband, who is the father of her unborn child.

Gautam Dutta, COO, PVR said that the film has superseded their expectation.

"The response we are getting for the film is phenomenal. There are families coming together to watch the movie. And since it is a women-centric film, there are group of females coming to watch the film. We are expecting a 80 percent occupancy all over India on weekend, which is something we did not expect. And the film should be able to do a good business," Dutta told IANS.

It is being co-distributed by Pen India Pvt. Ltd, Viacom 18 Motion Pictures and Boundscript Motion Pictures Pvt. Ltd

" 'Kahaani' is a film that is made for serious and sensible cinegoers. Vidya's performance is being appreciated by audience. The film is not entertaining like 'The Dirty Picture', that is why it has a niche audience. But it will not only recover its cost but also earn profits," said Delhi based distributor Joginder Mahajan.

If the story and Viday's charma are attracting audiences, distributor Sanjay Ghai of Mukta Arts Ltd says word of mouth is also helping the film a lot in gaining success.

"It is houseful in multiplexes and we are expecting collection of Rs.5 crore on Sunday. It is the word of mouth that is bringing people to the theaters," Ghai said.
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Kahaani is an absolutely remarkable film for three reasons. First, it is the tautest, most involving thriller to have come out of Hindi cinema in years. Second, it is a stunningly shot city film, made inestimably more memorable by the simple move of stepping out of supremely overused Mumbai streets and increasingly familiar Delhi locations into a startlingly cinematic Kolkata. And third, it contains another bravura performance from the marvellous Vidya Balan, stepping back into the arc lights, even as the thunderous applause for The Dirty Picture continues to ring in her ears (and ours).

As Vidya Venkatesan Bagchi, a woman who arrives in Kolkata distressed and seven months pregnant, to search for a husband who has gone missing, Balan demonstrates yet again how immense the possibilities are for a talented actress who can get beyond the Bollywood preoccupation with looking glamorous on screen. Just as she filled out Silk’s ample curves with ease, giving us a glimpse of a sexuality that is joyous, libidinal and free, Balan in Kahaani embraces with grace and fullness the traditionally kept-out-of-sight body of the heavily pregnant woman.

The pregnant female body has always been in plain view, but I cannot think of another instance when it has been so unapologetically present, at least on the Hindi film screen, as it is in Kahaani. As a recent piece in Open magazine points out, Sujoy Ghosh has been preoccupied with the transformative power of motherhood for quite some time. His first film, the light and breezy Jhankaar Beats (2003), was a more or less all-boys film but featured a pregnant Juhi Chawla as the calming, strong presence in a rather confused male universe.