Dabangg 3, starring Salman Khan as police officer Chulbul Pandey, showed good growth on Sunday after opening below expectations on Friday. The film was heavily affected by the social unrest throughout the country over the CAA (Citizenship Amendement Bill).
Sharing the box office collections of the film, trade analyst Taran Adarsh wrote on Twitter, “Dabangg3 partially regains lost ground on Day 3… Biz jumps across circuits… Loses a big chunk of *opening weekend* biz [approx Rs 12 cr] due to protests… Day 4 [Mon] crucial… Christmas celebrations [Tue evening onwards and Wed] should boost biz.”
He added, “Dabangg3 – despite protests affecting its biz severely – packs Rs 80 cr+ in its *opening weekend*, primarily due to the superstardom of #SalmanKhan… Fri 24.50 cr, Sat 24.75 cr, Sun 31.90 cr. Total: Rs 81.15 cr. India biz. Note: All versions.”
Taran had said on Saturday that the film was reduced in length from the second day onwards. He tweeted, “#Xclusiv: #Dabangg3 trimmed on Day 2… 9 minutes, 40 seconds portions reduced from the run time.” The film was criticised for being too long with a duration of over two hours. It reportedly has too many songs and was criticised majorly because it served as a hindrance in the narrative.
Sharing the collections of the first two days of the film, he wrote, “#Dabangg3 stays in the same range on Day 2… Few circuits up, few down… Protests hit biz hard… Loses approx Rs 7.5 cr to Rs 9 cr in 2 days… Biz should see a turnaround on Day 3 [Sun]… Fri 24.50 cr, Sat 24.75 cr. Total: Rs 49.25 cr. India biz. Note: All versions.”
Reacting to the film being affected by the anti-CAA protests, Sonakshi Sinha told IANS in an interview, “We all know what is going on in the entire country. I think people know that what is more important, but I am honestly happy with audience response to our film. At this moment, entire country has come together on this matter (CAA protests) and it is more important than a film.”
The Prabhudeva-directed film stars Salman Khan along with Sonakshi Sinha and introduces actor-filmmaker Mahesh Manjrekar’s daughter Saiee Manjrekar in a pivotal role. The film also features Kannada superstar Kichcha Sudeep in the role of the villain.
