Will Salman Khan's 'Ek Tha Tiger' become highest Hindi film grosser ever?

On Independence Day, when it was released, Ek Tha Tiger (ETT) surpassed the existing records of the highest single day collection held by Agneepath (Rs 22 crore on Day One) and Ra One (Rs.23 crore on Day Two) by grossing Rs.32 crore.

On Day Two (Thursday), the movie grossed Rs 15 crore taking its two day revenue haul to Rs 47 crore. With three more days till the weekend ends, it is a no-brainer that the present record holders for the top opening weekend, Ra.One and Bodyguard (both raking in Rs 53 crore) will be left behind.

ETT has also received good responses from critics, a welcome change from the reviews Salman Khan's recent movies such as Wanted, Bodyguard and Ready got. The multiplex crowd too has appreciated it. It scores high on action which close followers of Hindi cinema say has been the best in any film so far. Preliminary reports of the third day's collection say it was almost identical to that on Day Two. The Friday evening shows are said to do particularly well.

Going by past trends of recent movies released on a Wednesday holiday such as Bodyguard and Ra.One, ETT will collect Rs 15 crore each on Saturday and Sunday. That makes a total to Rs 92 crore after a five day extended weekend. The first seven day revenue total of Bodyguard was Rs 100 crore and the extended weekend collection was Rs 110 crore. Considering the Eid holiday on Monday the collections will be high on that day too, and ETT's first week will surpass all others.

Will ETT's total revenue cross that of Aamir Khan's 3 Idiots (2009) which grossed Rs 203 crore? It is hard to say. 3 Idiots ran for many weeks and got a sizeable repeat audience. For instance, it grossed Rs 56 crore in its second week, while Salman Khan's Dabangg and Bodyguard with lower repeat value, crossed Rs 36 and Rs 20 crore respectively in the same period.

3 Idiots was also a multiplex favourite. Salman Khan's fan base is bigger at the single screens where ticket prices are less than half of those at multiplexes. It has to sustain better than 3 Idiots to collect the same amount.

But if the film grosses more than Rs 20 crore on Saturday and Sunday, 3 Idiots's record is under threat.

With four films doing more than Rs 100 crore business on trot -   Dabangg (2010), Ready (2011) , Bodyguard (2011) and ETT (projected) Salman Khan is the king of box office. Is he now the undisputed King Khan?

Note: All numbers are net domestic box-office collections. Net is gross box-office collections minus taxes applicable.

Source: BoxofficeIndia.com