Bajrangi Bhaijaan has become the first Salman Khan film to take an extraordinary opening in the overseas markets. The film has collected Rs 51 crore in its opening weekend and is likely to surpass the lifetime overseas total of Salman’s previous highest grosser KICK (Rs 70 crore) in its first week itself.
In a sign of growing overseas popularity, Salman films will now be competing with those of Shahrukh Khan. Happy New Year, which is the 6th highest overseas grosser of all time, collected Rs 101 crore overseas and that record could be surpassed by Bajrangi Bhaijaan.
There is also an outside chance for the film to challenge the overseas records of some of the biggest grossers in Indian Cinema – 3 Idiots, My Name Is Khan and Chennai Express.
Bajrangi Bhaijaan has also grossed Rs 226 crore worldwide (4 days India collections, 3 days overseas collections). It should eventually go on to be Salman’s first 400 crore grosser and possibly his first 500 crore grosser too!
Day-wise Worldwide Gross of Bajrangi Bhaijaan
- Day 1 - 46.31 crore
- Day 2 - 62.64 crore (total 108.95 crore)
- Day 3 – 80.4 crore (total 189.35 crore)
- Day 4 – 45.85 crore (total 235.2 crore)
- Day 5 – 36.8 crore (total 272 crore)
- Total in 5 days – 272 crore
Note: The net collections in India is Rs 129.65 crore. The gross collections, including entertainment tax, is Rs 175.75 crore.
| Country | Collections (all figures are GROSS) |
|---|---|
| India | 320.45 crore |
| North America | 54.5 crore |
| United Kingdom | 27.3 crore |
| United Arab Emirates | 50.8 crore |
| Australia | 8.1 crore |
| New Zealand | 2.5 crore |
| Others | 30 crore |
| Total Worldwide Gross | 493.65 crore |
The stirring stardom of Salman Khan is as enigmatic as the superstar himself. He is perhaps the only star of his generation whose stardom is not subservient to the box-office success of his movies. Despite holding a string of box-office records – Highest Grosser of the Year (8 times), 3 Highest Grossers of one particular Year (Hum Saath Saath Saath Hain, Biwi No.1, and Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam in 1999), 5 veritable blockbusters on the trot, among others – it is his abiding connect with the audience which has stood him in good stead over the last 25 years.
At present, his next release BAJRANGI BHAIJAAN is hot on the heels and is slated to become the first blockbuster of 2015. As you gear up to throng to cinema halls to watch this movie, we dispel 3 popular myths pertaining to the superstar.
1) Salman Khan delivers Blockbusters only on Eid:
While it is true that since 2009, the festival of Eid has become synonymous with Salman Khan and all his movies released on this occasion have turned out to be massive blockbusters, people tend to forget two vital points. Before 2009, Eid was not a sought-after period for releasing big-ticket movies. It was only after Salman stormed the box-office with WANTED in 2009, that industry woke up to the box-office potential of Eid period. Before 2009, Diwali and Christmas were traditionally considered auspicious and conducive for the release of big movies from a long time.
It wouldn’t be erroneous to state that Salman made Eid the most sought-after and lucrative proportion for Bollywood. Hence this charge of Salman using Eid as a springboard for box-office success does not hold water.
Also, in recent years, READY and DABANGG 2 were not Eid releases and both were monumental hits. Before 2009, every hit of Salman Khan was a non-Eid release. From Maine Pyaar Kiya to Hum Aapke Hain, Hum Saath Saath Hain to Karan Arjun, No Entry to Partner – there are several such examples.
2) Salman Khan hit a rough patch between 2000-2009 and his stardom dipped:
Ludicrous reasons are wheeled out by his critics to perpetuate this myth. The movies in which he made guest appearances are tagged as his movies. HELLO, SAAWARIYA, HEROES, BAABUL, SAAWAN, etc. are some of the examples. By the same logic, does one count DULHA MIL GAYA, HEY RAM, BHOOTNATH, SILSILAY, KRAZZY 4 , etc. as Shah Rukh’s movies?
It is amusing that naysayers discount superhits like
MUJHSE SHAADI KAROGI, NO ENTRY , and PARTNER – all of which released between 2000 and 2009 – as these are multi-starrer movies. While the contribution to each and every member associated with the movie must be acknowledged, it is clear as daylight that Salman was the dominant star in those movies who pulled in the audience. The producer of NO ENTRY is still waiting for Salman’s approval and dates to start its sequel. The project has not taken off only because Salman is yet to allot the dates. While Anil Kapoor is a fine actor, he has been playing side-roles since 1999 and is dependent on the dominant star to pull through the movies. Same goes for Govinda whose heyday as superstar ended in 1999. Govinda has said in numerous interviews that he would always be grateful to Salman for offering him a film when no work was coming his way. If one look at Govinda’s movies from 2003 onwards, all of them have opened extremely poorly except PARTNER and BHAGAM BHAG. He no longer gets the lead roles.
Also, if we deploy the same rationale and yardstick, should we discount KABHI KHUSHI KABHI GHAM , DEVDAS, KAL HO NA HO, OM SHANTI OM, etc, from SRK’s oeuvre… and RANG DE BASANTI , 3 IDIOTS, DIL CHAHTA HAI , etc. from Aamir Khan ’s body… or PHIR HER PHERI, WELCOME ,
HEY BABY , SINGH IS KINNG , BHOOL BHULAIYA , etc. from
Akshay Kumar ’s filmography?
People condone TERE NAAM, MAINE PYAAR KYUN KIYA, CHORI CHORI CHUPKE, WANTED, DULHAN HUM LE JAYENGE, and HAR DIL JO PYAR KAREGA as if they didn’t exist. These all movies were declared either hits or semi-hits by all trade experts alike, but when it comes to Salman anything less than a blockbuster is a flop?
Just for the reference of readers, GARAM MASALA, WAQT, NAMASTEY LONDON, DIL CHAHTA HAI, CHALTE CHALTE, KAL HO NA HO, DEVDAS, ANDAZ, etc. are all either hits or semi-hits. But are they called flops or disasters? The larger point here is that it is not appropriate to dub successful films (hits or semi-hits) as flops just because they were not blockbusters.
Another notable point is that even the films like GARV and LUCKY which were ultimately declared below-average at the box-office opened to packed houses.
Having said all this, one must admit that Salman was not as successful between 2000 and 2009 as he was in 1990s, a decade when he was undisputed numero uno. From 2000 to 2009, Shah Rukh and Aamir certainly had an edge over Salman, but to say that Salman’s stardom had dipped considerably is a gross exaggeration. The perception and general consensus about Salman among hoi polloi has always been that of a larger-than-life superstar.
3) Salman Khan is a superstar but not a good actor:
While Salman Khan has been a darling of masses, a quintessential crowd-puller, and a sigil of stardom, the critics haven’t really warmed up him. His acting talent is often derided, and at times ridiculed.
It is safe to say that he does not have the unrelenting commitment of Aamir, and emotional underpinning of SRK. There was a time period between 2006-2008 where he sometimes seemed uninterested and lackadaisical.
However, one cannot ignore the fact that he has churned out fine performances in almost all genres. Be it romance ( MAINE PYAAR KIYA, HUM DIL DE CHUKE SANAM ), comedy ( JUDWAA, ANDAZ APNA APNA, MUJHSE SHAADI KAROGI), or action ( DABANGG). His restrained performances in KHAMOSHI and TERE NAAM were applauded by even his fiercest detractors. Above all, delivering blockbusters in all conceivable genres without being a good actor is akin to making an omelette without breaking an egg.
One cannot remain at the top of the tree for 25 years in the industry where cut-throat competition is the flavor of all seasons. The fact that the audience still wants to see him on the silver screen and his popularity is burgeoning with each passing day is am eloquent testimony to his fine acting prowess.
Rishi Kapoor said on KOFFEE WITH KARAN (2004) that he is surprised that Salman does not get his dues as an actor from media despite doing some terrific work. He went to state that Salman is perhaps the most under-rated actor.
FILMFARE aptly encapsulated the mystical microcosm of Salman and his stardom in one of its articles, “When it comes to Salman Khan, his performance in the movie does not matter. What matters is the performance of his scores of fans in the cinema halls, and they almost always deliver.”
@tiger-the real chuha,when KING KHAN will release on non holiday,then come.so don’t bark much from now on.jai ho’s opening was 17cr ,don’t forget that.it’s a kabir khan movie that’s whitit gained much publicity and curiosity and thus surpassed 20cr.
BTW next year FAN is rating on non holiday unlike republic day,so salman will learn at that time how to give HITS in non holiday too,ROFL.
Ha ha ha ha,even our overseas disaster star bhau has only one super hit was ett that was due to kabir khan.now again it can hardly surpass DON2 not even HNY ,if can do that with with over ticket price only ,while CE,MNIK is out of reach.
And at the end if the year ATBB JODI will come and will crush poor bm out of theatres with in 3 days and will conquer the theatre and will shatter all the puny records,till that you have to wait with out overjoy your success.really hats off to Harshali,Nawaz and the director Kabir Khan to show an antisocial as hero on scree,really Kabir has a born talent.unlike Raju Hirani,His films are realistic,I like that director too much.he showed expressionless non actor salman in a way with out giving expression by making eyes red with full of tears and some dumbs took that as an act.whatever Kabir should be praised and hopefully He’ll work with KING KHAN someday.
@sss:
Nobody knows Who was kabir khan before working with Bhai. It’s Salman who made Kabir bigger so even you are dreaming your king to work with him. Salman also made big directors like suraj borjatya, sajid nadiadwala etc. But you king is busy with working Ajay devgan made director rohit shetty…what a shame!!!
Also if BB is little munni’s movie then kkhh was little Anjali’s movie
@Ankur Dubey:
What a comment man!!! Hats off to you. It deserves to be publish as @indicine’s article.
@indicine: read the comment and think of it.
Huehuehue.. Tight slap to Kingtards and Makkhi fans.. Go go go Bhaijaan.. Amar Prem rocks..
love respect for salman khan
@sss
bhai raone diwali me ayi thi don2 christmas me…aur ready non holiday pe ayi thi..net collection mila le
raone.114cr
don2.118cr
ready..124cr
aur han ready KA SINGLE DAY COLLECTION RAONE AUR DON2 SE JYADA H..JO NON HOLIDAY PE H..
@sss
bhai raone diwali me ayi thi don2 christmas me…aur ready non holiday pe ayi thi..net collection mila le
raone.114cr
don2.118cr
ready..124cr
aur han ready KA SINGLE DAY COLLECTION RAONE AUR DON2 SE JYADA H..JO NON HOLIDAY PE H..smjhe
@kiran
srk also a child infront of nawaj and munni srk is totally nil infrnt of nawaj ..
One more thng ..just imagine bajrangi bhaijaan without our bhai jaan…koi makkhi v ni marne jata.. movie doing brilliant business jst bcz of salman’s power and due to super story..i m nt sayng that thr iz no role of nawab and munni both are too good…and ya kaun janta tha kbir khan ko??salman’s ek tha tigr was most awtd movie of 2012 jst bcz of and frm that time kbir khan was famoouus ..
best film of salman sir and i hope that total collection of this film more than pk.