Crosses Rs. 500 crore figure to shatter Indian film records.
By Prabhav Hiremath
MUMBAI: Decades ago, Bollywood films were credited with titles like Silver jubilee and Golden jubilee for their success as per the number of weeks they ran in theatres. Slowly, these terms were replaced by the collections in the first three days of film’s release and a target of Rs. 100 crore, a litmus test for the films’ success story.
That too is now history with Dhoom 3 breaking all the box office records that prevailed by collecting a colossal gross figure of Rs. 501.35 crore ($83.56 million) worldwide till date since its release on January 20th, 2013.
The news was confirmed by the production banner, Yash Raj Films which stated, “Dhoom 3 continues to create history at both Indian and overseas box office. It is now officially the first Indian film to cross Rs. 500 crore worldwide.”
The bifurcation of the gigantic gross figure stands as Rs. 351.29 crore from Indian screens and Rs. 150.06 crore ($25.01 million) from overseas screens totalling to Rs. 501.35 crore.
This figure was estimated by a survey conducted as soon as it had hit the theatres. The hype created before the release made Dhoom fans rush to select the best possible seats in the cinema halls for the ultimate Dhoom experience.
Multiplexes like PVR opened the pre-booking option for this latest franchise a month ago in advance. Others like IMAX screens made cinema goers a little disappointed with their ticket rates sky rocketing to Rs. 900, as Dhoom 3 is the first Bollywood movie to be released in IMAX format.
The film had already made it to the top on its first weekend when it collected Rs. 170 crore, leaving behind Shah Rukh Khan’s ‘Chennai Express’ that made Rs. 139 crore. The first three days also saw regional versions like Tamil and Telugu adding an extra Rs. 19 crore making a total of Rs. 189 crore on its first weekend.
Add to its record list, the film is the fastest to cross Rs. 100 crore figure and even the Rs. 200 crore mark. When Aamir Khan gave Bollywood’s first 100 crore film with his ‘Ghajini’, little he had known at that time that he would be the first one to give even Rs. 200 crore film ‘3 Idiots’ and now a mammoth Rs. 500 crore film ‘Dhoom 3.’
When it comes to overseas, the Baadshah of Bollywood, Shah Rukh Khan is the ultimate ruler at the box office. Now, it seems Aamir Khan has taken over the position with respect to box office collection of US $21 million from territories like USA, UK, Canada, Pakistan, Australia and UAE.
The film has managed to release in about 4460 screens including five IMAX screens in India alone, making it the film with highest screens till date. Overseas, the distribution is across 236 screens in USA, 97 in UAE and 30 in Australia with yet to release in territories like Morocco, Maldives, Rwanda, Lebanon, Egypt, Germany, Peru, Romania, Japan, Russia and Turkey.
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