The biggest bang on Diwali was at the theatres.

Houseful boards popped up everywhere as die-hard fans of superhero Shah Rukh Khan turned up in droves at the plexes and standalone theatres across town to give Ra.One the strongest opening for a film in the city in recent times.

The fan anthem? G.One’s the one. The fan verdict on the film? King Khan’s cool as ever.

“It’s been a phenomenal opening. Across all our properties in the city, the first six to eight shows have gone houseful,” said Subhasis Ganguli, the regional director of INOX. “If (Salman Khan’s) Bodyguard had opened big in some centres, Ra.One has opened huge across all our plexes,” he added.

At Fame South City, the snaking ticket queues for the afternoon show reached the snack counters. “The crowd count has been huge since the first show. We expect the craze to peak over the weekend,” a Fame official said.

A technical glitch stalled the 3-D show at Fame, triggering a temporary bout of frayed tempers. But such was the enthusiasm for a first-day show of Ra.One that most were appeased by the promise of a refund and a chance to watch the film in 2-D.

“The high comes from watching a big release on the first day. We can always watch it in 3-D later,” smiled mother-of-three Alankrita Sinha.

Chants of “Shah Rukh, Shah Rukh, Shah Rukh” — peppered with the occasional “Karrrrreeenaaaa” — rang out at every film stop Metro visited through the day. The plexes cashed in on the craze and packed in upwards of 20 shows a day, starting as early as 8.45am.

“Almost every show in every cinema of Ra.One has registered cent per cent occupancy. Things can only get bigger and better from here,” said Debashish De of Aum Moviez, the film’s regional distributor.

Riding on the back of a huge promotional blitzkrieg, including Shah Rukh’s visit to the city last week in association with t2, the Rs 150-crore superhero film was always expected to open big. That Shah Rukh’s star power, the spectacular visual effects and Kareena’s red-hot Chammak Challo act shadowed the storytelling flaws didn’t come as a surprise either.

“I have come for Chammak Challo and the special effects,” admitted travel company executive Kaushi Dutta, in the queue at Fame South City.

At INOX Swabhumi, 170-plus SRK fans garlanded the actor’s poster and bathed it in milk. Members of the Shah Rukh Khan Fan Club at Menoka were also in worship mode, holding aloft a huge Ra.One poster and planting kisses on a mugshot of their superhero.

“This is SRK’s biggest and best yet. We will come back many more times for Ra.One before the first week is over,” squealed fan Mohammed Adil.

Deep Nayak of Maddox Square and his group of eight friends were busy garlanding King Khan’s posters outside the same theatre. “We have just watched the film and it has all the ingredients for a great superhero film. Shah Rukh is outstanding,” gushed Deep, rattling off box-office figures culled from the Internet.

“Ra.One has already collected Rs 14 crore more than Bodyguard,” claimed Deep. “We have been on our laptops all day,” he added.

Swagata Dey, who had dragged friend Bulbul Sen for the Ra.One matinee show at Menoka, said: “The only reason I have come to watch Ra.One today itself is because it is a Shah Rukh film. If he is there in a film, one doesn’t need any other reason,” she admitted.

Malancha in Tollygunge saw scores returning disappointed from the closed counters. Those who had tickets didn’t fail to flaunt them. “I make it a point to watch all Shah Rukh films on the first day and Ra.One is no exception,” said Subhranil Kar, who owns a business.

Inside INOX Forum, a fleeting rival to King Khan’s popularity was Rajinikanth, in a special appearance as Robot’s Chitti. But for in-hall excitement, look no further than Chammak Challo.

What was special about watching Ra.One on Day One? Tell ttmetro@abpmail.com