Aamir Khan's Delhi Belly beats Amitabh Bachchan's Bbuddah Hoga Tera Baap in box office battle

You could dub it as another young versus old debate. Or you could play it as an expensive and risky film outdoing another with a lower budget. You could also bluntly call it the Amitabh-Aamir face-off. Even the suggestion of such a confrontation may be contentious to die-hard Bachchan fans, but the results of India's rapidly changing demographics are evident at the box office.

The battle lines were drawn and the inevitability of the Amitabh-Aamir comparisons sealed when both flicks released on the same day- July 3. The crucial 'opening' (weekend collections), as the film trade calls it, is the yardstick for measuring success and in this case, it was even more keenly watched than usual. The Aamir Khan-produced Delhi Belly , an adult-certified comic caper, aimed at the right side of India's population came up trumps, finishing the opening weekend with a Rs 26-crore net from domestic screens and adding another Rs 6.7 crore from overseas.

Bbuddah Hoga Tera Baap (BHTB), produced by AB Corp, reported a domestic weekend of Rs 7.5 crore net and an overseas weekend of Rs 2.25 crore. Within nearly a week post the release, DB has grown by Thursday to a total domestic net collection of over Rs 46 crore and an overseas collection of Rs 9.8 crore. Bbuddah, on the other hand, has collected Rs 11.5 crore net domestically and another Rs 4 crore net overseas.

The third contender -- also aimed at younger viewers -- Transformers-III, which released last weekend, earned Rs 12.5 crore net (opening weekend) with paid previews and 3D collections playing a big part. For Reliance Mediaworks CEO, Anil Arjun, this was an interesting week because all three releases catered to three distinct content genres. According to figures from Big Cinemas - India's largest multiplex chain which runs 250 screens -- 53% of its week's contribution came from Delhi Belly, followed by Transformers with 18% and BHTB with 14%.