Box office collection: 'Dunki' inches closer to Rs. 75cr
What's the story
Shah Rukh Khan was poised to strike a hat trick in 2023 with Pathaan, Jawan, and Dunki.
While Pathaan and Jawan surpassed all expectations and received astounding commercial acclaim, the same, however, cannot be said for Dunki, directed by Rajkumar Hirani.
The comedy-drama opened at Rs. 29.2cr on Thursday, which is quite meager per SRK's stature and track record in 2023.
On Friday, the collections dipped, but the film showed growth on Saturday, raking in Rs. 25.5 crore, per Sacnilk.
Details
Looking at 'Dunki' in numbers
After Thursday (Rs. 29.2cr), Friday (Rs. 20.12cr), and Saturday (Rs. 25.5cr), the Hirani directorial has accumulated Rs. 74.82cr at the box office (India nett collections).
Dunki witnessed an overall occupancy of 40.71% on Saturday and registered a growth of about 26.74%.
However, with daily earnings still below Rs. 30 crore, trade experts believe that Dunki may not achieve the massive box office numbers of SRK's previous 2023 releases.
This performance is strikingly—and shockingly—lower than Jawan and Pathaan.
Plot
This is what happens in 'Dunki'
The story revolves around Manu (Taapsee Pannu), Hardy (Khan), Sukhee (Vicky Kaushal), Balli (Anil Grover), and Buggu (Vikram Kochhar).
All of them have their own reasons for traveling to England, but since English isn't their strong suit, their visas are repeatedly denied.
Then, led by Hardy, they reach England illegally through the "donkey route."
The film marks Hirani's debut collaboration with SRK.
Here is our review of Dunki.
Competition
'Dunki' has suffered a blow due to 'Salaar'
A significant reason why Dunki has failed to replicate the success of Jawan and Pathaan is it faces massive competition from Prashanth Neel's Salaar: Part One—Ceasefire, starring Prabhas and Prithviraj Sukumaran.
Prabhas is akin to a deity in southern parts of India, especially in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, and his stardom has helped pull crowds to the theaters, thus marring Dunki's business.
Per Sacnilk, it opened at a jaw-dropping Rs. 90.7cr on Friday and added Rs. 56.35cr on Saturday!
Hirani's record
A look at Hirani's previous directorials
Dunki is Hirani's sixth feature film directorial.
Apart from directing the film, he has also written it alongside Abhijat Joshi and Kanika Dhillon.
His first directorial, Munnabhai MBBS, remains a cult classic, and PK, 3 Idiots, Lage Raho Munnabhai, and Sanju are among the most successful and critically acclaimed films of Hindi cinema.
With Dunki, however, Hirani seems to have missed his magic formula.