MUMBAI: Prakash Jha’s Aarakshan saw a decent opening at the box office despite not being released in territories like Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Punjab.

The movie saw occupancy of approximately 60-70 per cent in places where it was screened.

While the film was passed by the Censor Board without any cuts, the release of Aarakshan was banned in the above mentioned states by the respective state governments due to fears that it may cause law and order problems. This in turn will lead to a substantial loss in revenue with Uttar Pradesh being an important and large market for Hindi films.

Amitabh Bachchan, who plays an important role in the film, wrote on his blog, "Without any knowledge of what the film contains, without any desire to determine the trust and the most basic principles of law of democracy, it has merely strengthened my and many others’ fear of the weakness it conveys of our belief in governance and its ethics."

It remains to be seen whether the movie does manage to hit theaters in the three states over the weekend.