Kumar is now Kinng of the Indian box office

The figures are in and it seems Bollywood's Akshay Kumar is laughing all the way to the bank. His film Singh Is Kinng (currently playing in UAE cinemas) has just achieved the biggest weekend opening of any Indian movie in North America and the United Kingdom, although this year's Race still holds the UAE record.

Singh Is Kinng, which opened last weekend globally, has raked in Rs595million (Dh54m) in its first three days, according to trade pundits. This beats the opening record created by Shah Rukh Khan's Om Shanti Om last year, which collected Rs402m during its opening run in 2007; a close second is 2008's Race at Rs356m.

"In the UAE, Singh Is Kinng resulted in 38,000 admissions (Dh1.14m) for its opening weekend," revealed Mahi Golchin-Deepala, managing director of Phars Films, the sole distributors of Indian language films in the region. "This is a very high figure, but Race is still number one here with 83,000 admissions (Dh2.49m)."

But the UAE is a small loss for Kumar and the filmmakers, because the movie debuted at No6 in the United Kingdom, collecting Rs39m, and at No15 in the United States, collecting Rs38m. While critics may not have been very kind to the film, Kumar has always been a big draw amongst audiences and is currently the highest paid actor in India. Singh Is Kinng's USP is its Punjabi theme, which has touched a chord with Indian audiences, according to film analysts.

Internationally, his rap video with Snoop Dogg and bhangra band RDB has given the film a wider appeal.

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