By Joginder Tuteja
Sooryavanshi has set a major record. It has entered the list of Top-25 biggest weekends for a Hindi film, ever since the 100 Crore Club came into existence with Ghajini. The Akshay Kumar starrer has netted 77.08 crores in its first three days and while these kind of numbers are huge at any time of the year or era, the fact that this has come now when there was so much of uncertainty around whether audiences will come back to theatres is truly remarkable.
The last big Hindi film to see a full-fledged theatrical release was Baaghi 3 which had released in March 2020 and it is 20 months after the arrival of the Tiger Shroff starrer that a Bollywood biggie has arrived with such fanfare. Not that it was a cakewalk for the film as there were several troubles, both internal and external, which were proving to a spanner in the plans. The film's release was pushed twice due to the advent of the first wave and the second wave. Then there was the issue around revenue sharing that threatened to delay the release.
However, what further hurt the film big time was the 50% occupancy rule in Maharashtra, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh (along with few other states) that robbed the film of added moolah. Night curfews in certain other centers also impacted some of the most lucrative shows. Very importantly, no one really knew how would audience actually receive the film in theatres, considering the pandemic fear as well as inertia caused by easy availability of films on the OTT for last 20 months. All in all, there were several battles that were being fought.
Still, the Rohit Shetty directed film managed to beat all the odds and not just open quite well [26.29 crores] on Friday but also sustain well on Saturday and Sunday to register hefty collections. As a result, it managed to make it to the list of Top-25 best weekends (or the first 3 day collections) ever. This is how the list looks like:
- Baahubali 2 [Hindi] - 128 crores
- Sanju - 120.06 crores
- Tiger Zinda Hai - 114.93 crores
- Race 3 - 106.47 crores
- Sultan - 105.53 crores
- Dangal - 105.01 crores
- Happy New Year - 104 crores
- Bajrangi Bhaijaan - 102.6 crores
- Thugs of Hindostan - 101.75 crores
- Dhoom: 3 - 101.61 crores
- Prem Ratan Dhan Payo - 101.47 crores
- War - 100.15 crores
- Bharat - 95.5 crores
- PK - 95.21 crores
- Chennai Express - 93.66 crores
- Bodyguard - 88.75 crores
- Golmaal Again - 87.6 crores
- Kick - 83.85 crores
- Dabangg 3 - 81.15 crores
- Saaho - 79.08 crores
- Padmaavat - 78 crores
- Singham Returns - 78 crores
- Sooryavanshi - 77.08 crores
- Simmba - 75.11 crores
- Baaghi 2 - 73.10 crores
As can be seen, while Baahubali 2 [Hindi] leads right from the top, there are 11 other Bollywood films that have managed 100 crores or more in their first three days. The remaining have done well too to be in the 70s, 80s and the 90s, and eventually most in the Top-25 (barring a film or two) have emerged as big successes.
This is what makes one believe further that Sooryavanshi too would make it to the elite list of superhits or blockbusters, given the kind of trend that other films have enjoyed after opening so big.
Let's look at how these films have enjoyed during their lifetime run:
- 1 movie entered 500 Crore Club [Baahubali 2]
- 7 movies entered 300 Crore Club [Dangal, Sanju, PK, Tiger Zinda Hai, Bajrangi Bhaijaan, War, Sultan]
- 8 movies entered 200 Crore Club [Dhoom: 3, Simmba, Kick, Chennai Express, Bharat, Prem Ratan Dhan Payo, Golmaal Again, Happy New Year]
- 4 movies entered 150 Crore Club [Race 3, Baaghi 2, Dabangg 3, Saaho]
- 2 movies almost made it to the 150 Crore Club [Thugs of Hindostan, Bodyguard]
The only film that was an outright reject in this list is Thugs of Hindostan and ironically it had taken the second biggest start ever [50.75 crores] for a Bollywood biggie. Race 3 underperformed and Dabangg 3 couldn't cover the distance either. However, every other movie in the list did quite well.
Now given the kind of appreciation that Sooryavanshi is finding for itself, and hence the stability it demonstrated right through its opening weekend, it is pretty much a given that 150 Crore Club is there for the taking. In fact trends suggest, basis other movies in the Top-25 list, that even a 200 Crore Club possibility cannot be ruled out. After all, 15 movies in this list have managed to enter the 200 Crore Club or 300 Crore Club, and the credentials that this Akshay Kumar and Rohit Shetty film boast promise a march for it into this elite club.
The good news for the industry is that a start has been made and from here, it should only get upwards and onwards for the next set of films that release. However till that happens, it is going to be the cry of Sooryavanshi all the way.
Note: All collections as per production and distribution sources.
Stay tuned for more updates.