The Salman Khan-starrer shows decent growth on Sunday taking its opening weekend total to around Rs 73 crore nett

By Mayur Lookhar

Salman Khan’s Dabangg 3 [2019] has had a decent opening weekend bagging Rs 73 crore nett [approximately], as per reported by BoxOfficeIndia.com. The film collected Rs28.5 crore nett on Sunday , a jump of Rs 6.50 crore nett from the preceding day.

While Rs73 crore in three days is a good collection but perhaps a tad underwhelming for a Salman Khan film. The ongoing protests over the Citizenship Amendment Bill in certain parts of the country could be one of the reasons for Dabangg 3 not registering high numbers.

Khan’s last release Bharat [2019] had bagged Rs90.47 crore nett in its extended opening weekend. That film though had released on a Wednesday. Khan’s preceding Eid release Race 3 [2018] had made Rs100.64 crore nett in its [three-day] opening weekend. Both Race 3 and Bharat had released in over 4000 screens, whereas Dabangg 3 is released in 3500 screens. Dabangg 3’s estimated budget is said to be around Rs125 crore [including prints and advertisements]. Khan has himself distributed his last three films domestically. The lucrative deals of his ancillary rights have meant that Khan didn’t have to solely depend upon on the domestic box office.

The challenge though for Dabangg 3 is whether it can cross the Rs150 crore nett mark. Race 3 had faded out after three days but it still made Rs166 crore nett, whereas as Bharat had pocketed an impressive Rs197.34 crore nett. Given that Dabangg 3 has had a low opening opening weekend compared to the preceding films, and largely negative reviews, the action drama faces an uphill task to reach Rs150 crore nett in domestic business.

Khan will only have the week days to improve because come Friday, 27 December, it will face stiff competition from Akshay Kumar’s Good Newwz [2019] that is produced by Dharma Productions.

Meanwhile, preceding week’s release Mardaani 2 [2019] made Rs 5.75 crore nett in its second weekend. The Yash Raj Films produced crime drama, that stars Rani Mukherji, has made Rs33.50 crore nett in ten days so far. Made at an estimated budget of Rs30 crore, Mardaani 2 had released in 1600 screens in India.