Controversial box office collections of Krrish 3 – Our take!

Article first published on November 11 2013

Ever since Krrish 3 released in theatres, the comments section on our website and Twitter timeline have been flooded with questions related to the box office collections of the film — Why is there such a huge difference between numbers released by independent trackers like Box Office India (BOI) and the producers of the film? Is BOI trust-worthy? Since quoting a record-breaking figure for the opening day and weekend, results in free-publicity across all news channels and social media, how can figures released by a production house be trusted – after all, with millions at stake with a film like Krrish 3, the producers can quote any figure that they want to!

Below is a quick comparison between the 10 day collections of Krrish 3 released by 3 different sources.

  • Box Office India website: Rs 153 cr in 10 days (excluding collections from Telugu and Tamil versions)
  • Box Office India Magazine: Rs 171.47 cr in 10 days (excluding collections from Telugu and Tamil versions)
  • Filmkraft Productions: Rs 194 cr in 10 days from Hindi, Rs 206.35 including Telugu and Tamil.

Here’s how, we think, each source tracks their figures

1. BoxofficeIndia.com were the first to release All-India figures, which is probably why they are considered to be a trust-worthy source within the industry and by fans. In fact, a lot of well-known trade analysts use figures released by BOI and claim those numbers to be their own! The 202 crore lifetime figure of 3 Idiots was first released by the trade website, which was universally accepted as ‘actuals’ of the 2009 Rajkumar Hirani blockbuster.

BOI releases daily figures based on collections from a few theatres in various circuits, which is then compared to other films with a similar release size. For example, sample figures of Krrish 3 will be compared to Chennai Express, as both films released on approximately 3700 screens across India. Since they probably have contacts with top distributors, they are also well-aware if a film is under-performing or record-breaking in one or more circuits. In short, around 20-25% of collections are tracked on a daily basis for bigger films, the final total is just a guess estimate which isn’t always very accurate.

Have their figures always been reliable? No, not really. When Hrithik Roshan’s Jodhaa Akbar released, they declared the film a ‘Super-Hit’ with All-India collections of around 63.5 crore net. But on the new version of their website, they’ve reduced the total to Rs 59 crore and also changed the verdict to ‘Semi Hit’. The difference between the two verdicts is huge.

Screen captures from 2008 and 2013 below.

Jodha Akbar declared Super Hit

Jodha Akbar declared Super Hit

Verdict is now Semi-Hit

Verdict is now Semi-Hit

Jodhaa Akbar is not the only film though. They declared Om Shanti Om as the biggest grosser of all-time at Rs 85.79 crore net. A couple of years later, they deducted more than Rs 6 crore from its total, making it the second highest grosser after Dhoom 2 (Screen captures below). Even the figures of Jab Tak Hai Jaan were reduced by more than 15% when the film was in its third week.

Om Shanti Om 85.79 crore net in 2007

Om Shanti Om 85.79 crore net in 2007

Om Shanti Om declared biggest grosser

Om Shanti Om declared as biggest grosser of all time

Current site has OSO at 79.42 cr below Dhoom 2

Current site has OSO at 79.42 cr below Dhoom 2 which released in 2006

2. Box Office India Trade Magazine: These guys have plenty of sources and usually fetch figures directly from the distributors. They also provide circuit-wise figures on a daily basis. Their figures from a few circuits are at times way off the mark. Also, in recent times they have started quoting trade figures for a few films and producer figures for others. In short, their figures are not consistently accurate and bias towards a certain top star is pretty evident.

3. Figures from the production house: Exhibitors (theatre owners) report to distributors, who report directly to the producers. So only the producers accurately know how much a film has collected. But in today’s times its all about opening day / weekend records and films that are fastest to 100 / 200 crore clubs get nation-wide free publicity across all news channels and social media websites. That results in higher ticket sales, because a film that is record-breaking is considered to be good content-wise too.

For example, industry insiders are well-aware of the fact that Chennai Express did not break the opening day record of Ek Tha Tiger. But, UTV released a figure that was a mere Rs 0.12 crore higher than the previous record held by Salman Khan’s 2012 blockbuster. Result? ‘Shahrukh Khan beats Salman Khan at the box office’ was breaking news. It also became the fastest to the 100 crore club by collecting 100.45 crore in 3 days, another big record, more publicity. The film went on a historic run and eventually became the highest grosser of all time. While Chennai Express was a well-made film and thoroughly entertained every section of the audience, the fact that it broke the opening record helped it break more records in the long run.

When years of hard work and crores of rupees go into the making of every film, we can’t really blame the makers for not being 100% honest, can we? But the big problem is, this game of manipulating figures could get dirtier. The difference between various trade sources will get bigger with every major release. Those who love discussing figures, may no longer be thrilled by a record-breaking opening from their favourite superstar. In short, it could get way too predictable. Every commercial holiday release featuring Salman, SRK, Aamir and Hrithik, that is even close to the previous record, will be pushed over the line to break records .

At the same time, BoxofficeIndia could also be playing a smart game here. In recent times, every media channel has started quoting figures released from production houses and leading trade analysts. Since every fan would want their favourite star’s film to break records, BOI figures were no longer being quoted or trusted. But now, the difference between their figures and producers is so huge that a section of the media has already started quoting figures from BOI. Could well be a publicity stunt from them too!

Indicine too has grown tremendously over the last few years, we now have our own set of reliable sources. We publish our own figures for small / medium releases, but currently we do not have enough sources in the trade to track wide releases like Krrish 3, Chennai Express or Ek Tha Tiger. To give you an example, Yash Raj Films produce and distribute their films themselves. How can any one even know where they release their films? How can BOI or any other website, get collections from a fixed rental screen in a small town in Uttar Pradesh? It’s impossible, no matter how many sources you have in the trade! That doesn’t mean their figures are unreliable, it’s just inaccurate!

Coming back to the controversy around Krrish 3. We have spoken to a lot of exhibitors and distributors in the last few days, we also have theatre-wise figures from a few centres for the first week. According to our estimates, the Hindi version of the film has collected around Rs 138 crore in its first week and 170 crore net in the first 10 days. The Telugu and Tamil version has contributed around 12-13 crore, taking the lifetime collections of the film to around 182-183 crore. Again, these figures are not 100% accurate, just estimates.

Any source, any figure you take.. Krrish 3 is still one the biggest blockbusters of the year. It’s a hugely profitable film for all its investors.

Finally, a word of advice. Take your pick and trust the source that you think is most reliable. But stick to ONE source, don’t change it according to your convenience or liking towards your favourite star!

Have questions to ask? Post them in the comments section below.

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224 Comments

  • Thanks Indicine, and all my friends :)

    @Raj – RA.One’s Hindi version was released on 2700 screens in India couple of years ago, considerably lower than Krrish 3. And the collections of 2nd and 3rd day of a big film can match up with it’s 1st day (during weekend) as long as all of those days are holidays or all of them are non holidays. Otherwise, Chennai Express wouldn’t have collected more than 30 crore on its 1st and 3rd day respectively.

    @Sakhi – Not always, they used to do it in past, but not anymore. If you explore Wiki, you will find it saying that they have considered figures given by BOI because of lack of other noteworthy sources. But, things have changed now. Take a look at this link – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_highest-grossing_Bollywood_films
    As you can see, they have also considered official figures given by producers and most of sources. Most notably in case of movies like CE, ETT, YJHD, JTHJ, etc. They are also mentioning it on a film’s ‘Notes’ section. They never said which one is correct, you can trust on whichever source you want to. Hope it helps you :)

    @Aks – I’m not bashing BOI, I just stated my opinion. And BOI isn’t 2nd most trusted site, but 2nd largest site as per Wikipedia. On collections, again, see above my reply to Sakhi. I’m not supporting producers’ figure, either. It may not be 100% accurate either, same thing applies for BOI, too. You can trust whichever site you prefer to, you’re entitled to your opinion, just like me and others.

  • to all fighting over figures,guys whether this movie anyother movie collected 200cr. Or ever 500cr we won’t get anything.then why are all fighting?lets just relax and enjoy the movies of our favourite stars.

  • Great Artcile..No words to praise..This is the best article from Indicine..Slap to all idiot srk fan who argues that krrish collection is manipulated..If Krrish then why not CE..One shouldnt do partiality..Wait that BOI will post Happy new year collection..That day u will say BOI is waste..That day U will F*** u

  • Who gives a s**t if a film is hit or flop? You go and watch the film you want if you like it you like it if you hate it you hate it.

  • Now i will never visit to boi sometimes i feel indicine giving wrong figures so i prefer boi.as i m a regular reader of indicine i will stick to it.
    Manipulation of boi not inky ends here if u go to star ranking u will fill akshay at 8 at domestic and out of list from ‘world’.its ok bt how come ranveer,john,saif etc be included in top 10 list of bollywood actors across the world excluding akshay.
    Then from i decided never trust boi analysis and today i got evidence.
    Thanks indicine.

  • great article indicine …i follow your fig for all actors …..BOI sucks they dont know about all circuit cinemas …..they put collection just by guessing krrish3 is 240Cr+ and its ATBB

  • I think boi is not always accurate but they r always close to the truth. If the difference between official nd boi figures is not more than 20 crore then its understandable but more than 50 crore as it was in the case of k 3 was not acceptable. Yes krish 3 definitely cross 180 crores at maximum 200 crore but definitely not more than this.

  • First of all, Great Article by Indicine,

    Secondly, Salman or the producers of his films do not manipulate BO figures. It is well known. See differences in the figures of his films between BOI and Producers’. I think SRK has become king of manipulation Aamir ki record todh ne ki chakkar mein!

    Thirdly, BOI post their figures as per the information available to them during a film’s theatrical run. Later, when they recheck, recount, confirm or update figures or information, they rectify their earlier mistakes. Is it wrong? Tell us, please!

    When we were in school, learnt that there were nine Planets. Now, there are only 8 planets. Pluto is disregarded as a planet because it does not have all the features that a planet should have. So, should we call NASA or the scientists manipulators or inaccurate?? They have just corrected earlier mistakes according to the latest information!

  • Indicine, the casts and crews of a film should not blamed when they are not honest because they have put their money and hard work in?? So, in the same vein, we should not blame the mobile phone vendors that sell well packaged duplicate Samsung Phones or iPhones because they too have put their hard work and money in making and packaging the phones???
    Why don’t they instead make good or appealing films????

  • D3 Trade Fig is 262 Hindi + 11 Regional = 273 cr

    D3 Producer Fig – 272 Hindi + 12 Regional = 284 cr

    D3 has variation of just 11 cr i.e. 4% difference between trade fig and producer fig. Other yrf films have had a higher difference. Aamir’s 3 Idiots recorded the same collections from every source.

    If aamir wanted to manipulate, he could have easily said Talaash crossed 100 cr. Remember Talaash producer fig is 94 cr and trade fig is 92 cr approx……There was plenty of scope of manipulating with Talaash.

    To Aamir’s credit the difference in aamir’s films as far as trade and producer figures are concerned is minimal.

  • So, in short CE never broke the opening record of ETT.

    The thing is that there is hardly very little or only marginal difference in the trade figure and producers figures when a movie of Salman or Aamir release than others? Why is that Indicine?

  • Thanks indicine I am from new Zealand but loved your honesty.I hope your site grows and you become no 1 source in Bollywood. And I wil always follow your figures boi is becoming a joke now. And end of the day whatever figures movies get they not giving us audience any money. In fact we movie lovers give them all the money. Come on guys let’s not fight and make this a big issues.we all love our stars and movies.lets give some cheers for inducine for being honest and always answering our question. Not like koimoi boi and others. Team indicine I salute you guys.thanks

  • By the way, it has been learnt that today’s collections of HNY would be around 13-14 Crores!! A Significant Crash!!

  • Srk gonna take the crown king of manipulationpur with hny……afterall he is the founder of it(jthj).

  • @sumit, ur saying became true today lol… Still seen very jealousy from salfan lol… Is the reason behind jealousy that kick couldnt broke the lifetime record or krrish 3 awesome :p

  • Great article agreed from all your points but the question remains same dn u think huge difference of k3 gives a chance to boi to play these games.your site is best one we expect from you to realize people and openly condemed the behaviour of k3 producers as u said the why accept 100 percent honesty from producers but atleast 90 percent honesty required which is not in the case of k3 shame on roshans to create that much mess please reply with logic as u always do

  • indicine wrote this

    Hrithik Roshan has slammed those in the
    industry and trade, who have been
    unnecessarily targeting the Roshans over
    the box office collections of their 2013
    blockbuster Krrish 3.
    The superstar, who has been in the news
    for all the wrong reasons in the last few
    weeks, has also officially declared the
    domestic and overseas collections of Krrish
    3.
    Krrish 3 has done a business of
    about 244 cr India and around 55 cr
    overseas. I wonder who these
    people are who have been so
    affected by these numbers and my
    success. Are they the ones I call my
    friends I wonder? I would like to
    tell them that they need not ever
    be insecure about another man’s
    success cause all they need to do is
    concentrate on their own hard
    work which in turn will help them
    achieve what they want.
    Some from the industry and
    certain sections of the media are
    hell-bent on putting me, my father
    and ‘Krrish 3? down. I have
    maintained my silence until now
    but these derogatory
    manipulations need to stop.
    In the meantime stop
    manipulating the press! Believe in
    karma. As my father and I do. And
    one last thing about my father and
    me as a team – WE’VE ONLY JUST
    BEGUN!

    sorry indicine but i dont agree with you bcos I cant ignore hrithik statement on krrish3 so change topic pls

  • Among top actors, Salman & Aamir movies have less or minimal difference between BOI & producers figures !!!!!!!!!! BOI India (boxoffice.co.in) is created by Srk PR !!!!!!!!!!!!

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