It was almost sure that Dabangg would take the best opening of the year (in line with Raajneeti), but anything close to3 Idiots was never on the cards

Dabangg breaks 3 Idiots record
Tuesday, September 14, 2010, 16:36 [IST]


In one flash stroke, Salman Khan has made the industry realize once again that if and when he really wants, he could be lethal. So much so that he can send terror waves. What else can define the stupendous opening that Dabangg has taken?

It was almost sure that Dabangg would take the best opening of the year (in line with Raajneeti), but anything close to 3 Idiots was never on the cards. After all, the Aamir Khan film was more inclined towards family audience and has a multiplex audience theme, a crowd that brings in maximum moolah. On the other hand, Dabangg had action as its USP with none associated with the film even denying this fact.

However, the unthinkable happened on the Friday of the film's release as not just did Dabangg open to some mind-blowing all around response but also recorded collections which not just surpassed Raajneeti by a comfortable margin but also smashed the 3 Idiots record. While 3 Idiots had totalled 13 crores on its opening Friday, Dabangg upped it by netting over 14 crores. This is not all as weekend business stayed on to be terrific as well. Good to excellent word of word of mouth meant that 49 crores were generated from just first three days of the film's release.

From this point on, a 100 crores final total is the least that Dabangg can see for itself, hence bringing itself in the elite zone of 3 Idiots (200 crores plus) and Ghajini (115 crores plus). It now has to be seen whether Dabangg would now be the second biggest earner ever or would have to contend with the third place. However, the good news for Bollywood is that 2010 has witnessed four mega hits in Raajneeti (90 crores plus), Housefull and My Name Is Khan (70 crores plus) and now Dabangg, which is looking unstoppable and is all set to score a century.