'Dunki' day 3: Shah Rukh Khan's latest film Dunki has managed to bounce back from the Salaar setback at the domestic box office. The film made Rs 29.20 crore on its opening day and saw a fall of over 31.10 per cent in its India box office collections on Friday when Prabhas-led Salaar hit theatres worldwide.
Dunki minted a total of Rs 20.12 crore on its first Friday and saw a rise of around 27 per cent in its collections on first Saturday. The film is estimated to have made around Rs 25.50 crore on its first Saturday, taking its total India box office business to around Rs 75 crore and is now eyeing the Rs 100 crore mark in India.
The film logged an overall 40.71 per cent occupancy across its Hindi shows on Saturday. Chennai, Mumbai, Kolkata, National Capital Region or NCR, Pune, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Chandigarh are among the top contributors to the film's theatrical occupancy on Saturday, as per film trade portal Sacnilk.
Moreover, the Shah Rukh Khan-led movie sold a total of more than 7.68 lakh tickets on Saturday from 9,402 shows across national multiplex chains. The film sold 1.49 lakh tickets worth Rs 8.11 crore across PVR chains, 1.10 lakh tickets worth Rs 5.56 crore across Inox chains and 63,291 tickets worth Rs 3.26 crore across Cinepolis, according to film trade analyst Manobala Vijayabalan.
Dunki is further likely to make decent numbers at the box office on Sunday. The film sold 4.05 lakh tickets worth Rs 12.59 crore across 10,977 shows all over India in its advance bookings for day 4.
Meanwhile, the film made a total of Rs 103.40 crore within two days of its release at the worldwide box office. Commenting on the film's worldwide box office business, film critic and trade analyst Atul Mohan said, "Rajkumar Hirani's Dunki is definitely a different film of Shah Rukh Khan than the other two released this year! While he explored the action genre in Pathaan and Jawan, he truly earned the way into a romantic and soft one with Dunki!"
The film opened to mixed reviews from Shah Rukh Khan's fans and critics alike. Fans called the film an entertaining ride and said that the supporting cast, particularly Vicky Kaushal, did an impressive job. "Overall, it is very good. I liked the first half a lot, typical Rajkumar Hirani film. The story is very good... Vicky Kaushal is outstanding, supporting cast is also very good. I will give it 3.5 stars," a fan told news agency ANI.
Others, however, said that the film was a good concept on paper which was marred by poor execution. "On the flip side, Dunki’s second half is weak and lengthy. The plot meanders and the humour falls flat. Dunki’s climax is also Hirani’s least enjoyable writing. In an effort to go overboard with the emotional quotient, the filmmaker stretches scenes and adds unnecessary baggage to an already heavy entourage," India Today's review of the film read.
Directed by Rajkumar Hirani, the film focuses on 'donkey flights' or 'dunki', an illegal immigration technique to enter countries like the US, the UK and Canada. The film also puts the spotlight on the lives of people who choose to enter these countries using the illegal route. Dunki features Shah Rukh Khan, Taapsee Pannu, Vicky Kaushal, Boman Irani, Vikram Kochhar and Anil Grover in pivotal roles. The film released on December 21, a day ahead of Prabhas' Salaar.