Mumbai, Sep 12 (IANS): Bollywood superstar Salman Khan has thanked fans for giving a thumbs up to his latest production venture “Hero”, which has marked the debut of star kids Sooraj Pancholi and Athiya Shetty.

According to trade analyst Taran Adarsh, the film collected Rs.6.85 crore on its opening day.

"#Hero Friday Rs.6.85 crore. India biz... Very good for a film starring newcomers... Biz will need to grow on Saturday and Sunday for a strong weekend total," Adarsh tweeted.

Salman has expressed gratitude to the audience for showing interest in the movie, and is happy with the first-day collection.

“Thanks to the people who have gone to see 'Hero' and welcomed Sooraj and Athiya in the film world and all those who are going to see it. Lots of respect,” Salman wrote on Twitter on Saturday.

“Collections (are) superb, whole team of Hero super happy with them. Would not have been possible without you going to see it. Thank you.

"Thank you for all the compliments on Sooraj baba and Athiya for songs, dances and action of 'Hero'. Appreciate it," added Salman.

Directed by Nikhil Advani, "Hero", which released on Friday, is a remake of veteran filmmaker Subhash Ghai's 1983 hit film of the same name.

Many Bollywood stars including ace choreographer-filmmaker Farah Khan, actors Huma Qureshi and Sonu Sood also took to the micro-blogging site to congratulate the team of “Hero” for garnering a successful response.