MNIK sets new box office record in US and Canada

Shahrukh Khan starrer 'My Name Is Khan' has turned out to be the largest weekend grosser Bollywood film ever in North America, recording an estimated $1.86 million in the US and Canada.

The movie, directed by Karan Johar $15,500 from 120 theatres across the US and Canada.

The Fox Searchlight movie opened on Friday with $444,000 and rose 65 per cent to $734,000 on Saturday.

It is estimated to dip seven per cent to $682,000 today, celebrated across the world as Valentine's Day.

Monday's 'Presidents' Day' holiday in the US will lead to a four-day debit of more than $2 million, the firm handling promotion and advertising of the film claimed.

'My Name Is Khan' also generated the highest per-theatre average of any film in the Top 20 over the weekend.

The previous record was held by Shahrukh's musical extravaganza 'Om Shanti Om', which grossed $1.76 million from 114 theatres over Diwali weekend in 2007.

The American mainstream media is all praise for the movie which received rave reviews.

"This is a movie not built for subtlety, but it does tackle a subject American movies have mostly avoided -- that of racial profiling and the plight of Muslim-Americans.

It also allows Shah Rukh Khan to display his talent to an even wider audience. It's well worth the 162-minute journey," The Hollywood Reporter, an American trade publication of the entertainment industry, said in its review.