The trade expected Chennai Express to break all existing opening records, but not many would have expected the film to do as well as it has over the last couple of days.
Here’s a quick look at some of the records that Chennai Express has literally destroyed this weekend.
1. Paid Previews: Chennai Express was postponed by a day to take advantage of the Independence Day holiday at single-screens. By releasing their film on Friday, UTV ensured that their film would be running on most single-screens until Thursday. Later, they announced that Chennai Express would have one of the widest paid preview releases ever. The 3 Idiots record of 2.75 crore, set more than 3 years ago, was broken. CE collected Rs 6.75 crore on Thursday.
Chennai Express is Shahrukh Khan’s Record Express!
2. First Day: This was probably the biggest of them all. Salman Khan’s Ek Tha Tiger collected Rs 32.92 crore last year, a record that many believed only Krrish 3 or Dhoom 3 could break. Chennai Express though, managed to beat ETT by 20 lakhs (0.2 cr) as the film collected Rs 33.12 on its opening day at the box office.
3. Highest Single Day Business: Another one of the records previously held by Salman’s Ek Tha Tiger was overtaken. Eid releases have always managed to smash most records, and this year was no different. However, this time around, it was Shah Rukh Khan who reigned supreme at the box office.
4. Second Day: In the last few years, SRK films haven’t really been record-breaking at the Indian Box Office, but one of those few records that he held prior to the release of Chennai Express, was for the highest second day business. Ra One in 2011 collected 25 crore net (including all versions) in what was back then a record-breaking 25 crore net (including all versions). Chennai Express collected 28.06 crore, which is not only the highest collections on the second day of release, but also the biggest Saturday ever AND the third highest single day business ever! HUGE!
5. Weekend: With one big holiday (Sunday) still to go, Chennai Express has already topped the charts in just 2 days + paid previews. The previous record was held by Salman’s Dabangg 2 (65 crore) followed by Ranbir Kapoor’s Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani (62 crore). Both those records have been blown away. In fact, Chennai Express could get close or cross the 100 crore mark in just 3 days + business from paid previews. Humongous!
It goes without saying that, all records of 2013 have been broken too.
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