Shah Rukh Khan has had the best year of his career so far, with his films Jawan and Pathaan both delivering over Rs 1,000 crore worldwide, but his latest, Dunki, hasn’t been able to create the same sort of buzz upon its release. Dunki was released in theatres on Thursday, and on its opening day, the film made Rs 30 crore nett domestic, as per industry tracker Sacnilk. This makes it the year’s seventh-biggest opener after Jawan, Animal, Pathaan, Tiger 3, Gadar 2 and Adipurush. While Jawan opened with Rs 75 crore, even the historic flop Adipurush managed to make Rs 36 crore on its opening day.
The opening day figures make it the least successful Shah Rukh film of the year, but the opening is still bigger than those delivered by Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan (Rs 15.81 crore), Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar (Rs 15.73 crore), Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani (Rs 11.1 crore) and Dream Girl 2 (Rs 10.69 crore).
On Thursday, Dunki saw an overall occupancy of 29.94%. The NCR region had 1412 shows with approximately 31% occupancy, and Mumbai had 1081 shows which saw an occupancy of around 29.75%. Dunki had a solo release on Thursday, but on Friday, the film will have to face off against Prashanth Neel’s Salaar, which is being released in multiple languages across the country. Starring Prabhas, Prithviraj Sukumaran among others, Salaar is handily outpacing Dunki, and will make more than Rs 60 crore on opening day.
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Even though this is Shah Rukh Khan’s least successful film of the year, the opening day figures here are still more than his 2018 release Zero, which also released on the same date. Zero opened with Rs 19.35 crore and could only manage to bring in Rs 90.28 crore during its lifetime.
For director Rajkumar Hirani, who is otherwise known for his successful track record at the box office, the opening figures are less than his last hit, 2018’s Sanju. The Ranbir Kapoor film opened up Rs 34.75 crore and eventually managed to make Rs 342.53 during its theatrical run. Released in the wake of Animal’s astounding success, Dunki also stars Taapsee Pannu, and Vicky Kaushal, among others.
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Sophie Anderson, a UK-based writer, is your guide to the latest trends, viral sensations, and internet phenomena. With a finger on the pulse of digital culture, she explores what’s trending across social media and pop culture, keeping readers in the know about the latest online sensations.
