Salman Khan’s cop action-drama ‘Dabangg 3‘ arrived in theatres on Friday and is looking forward to a good start at the box office. According to a report on BoxofficeIndia.com, the film is looking to collect anywhere between 22-24 crore nett on Day 1. Although impressive, reports state that the collections could have been much better if not for the current law and order situation in the country.
The unrest in the country due to the various protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act and the National Register of Citizens coupled with Section 144 imposed in various state, has reportedly lead to an estimated 15-20% loss of business. Had the conditions in the state been more favourable, the early estimates report claims that the film could have looked at an opening of over 30 crore nett.
Despite the numbers on the first day, trade experts predict good growth over the weekend and are optimistic about a good run at the box office.
The film has also had a multi-lingual release in Tamil, Telugu and Kannada, but the collections could be limited but could aid in pushing the film to a 25 crore nett collection on the first day.
‘Dabangg 3’ has managed to grab the fourth spot in the list of top advance bookings at the box office. With Rs 11.50 crore from advance booking, Salman’s cop actioner is right behind Hrithik Roshan‘s ‘War’ (Rs 31.36 crore), Akshay Kumar‘s ‘Mission Mangal’ (Rs 15.19 crore) and his own earlier release ‘Bharat’ which collected Rs 23.47 crore.
If the estimated numbers hold true, then ‘Dabangg 3’ will become the second-best non-holiday opener of the year after the Prabhas and Shraddha Kapoor starrer ‘Saaho‘ which had collected Rs 25.82 crore with Rs 8.27 crore coming from advance bookings.
Meanwhile, ‘Dabangg 3’ has received a lot of love from all the quarters for its songs, trailer and promo clips. Sonakshi Sinha and Arbaaz Khan will be reprising their roles as Rajjo and Makkhanchand Pandey while south star Kiccha Sudeep will be seen as the antagonist in the film. Debutant, Saiee Manjrekar will be essaying the role of Khushi, Salman’s love interest in the prequel.
