Top 3 openers of 2019: Salman Khan's Dabangg 3 makes the cut

Film poster of Dabangg 3

Dabangg 3 has achieved one big feat. The weekend box office collections of the Salman Khan-starrer are amongst the top-three of the year so far. Though it didn't take a big jump on Saturday, Sunday was quite good, resulting in a very healthy weekend.

Dabangg 3 has collected Rs 81.15 crore so far and though this is less than what Salman Khan's last release Bharat had managed in its opening weekend [Rs 95.50 crore], it is still better than Kabir Singh [Rs 70.83 crore] and Mission Mangal [Rs 70.02 crore], the next in line. War still tops the list by being the only film which has managed a weekend of over Rs 100 crore in 2019, only after  Saaho, which garnered Rs 79.08 crore.

Let's take a look at the numbers these Hindi films of 2019 made in the first three days of their release:

War - Rs 100.15 crore

Bharat - Rs 95.50 crore

Dabangg 3 - Rs 81.15 crore

Saaho - Rs 79.08 crore

Kabir Singh - Rs 70.83 crore

Mission Mangal - Rs 70.02 crore

Total Dhamaal - Rs 62.4 crore

Kesari - Rs 56.56 crore

Housefull 4 - Rs 53.22 crore

Gully Boy - Rs 51.15 crore

As can be seen, while Dabangg 3 has made it to to the Top-3, the Prabhu Deva-directorial must buck up in the days to come. Films like Kabir Singh, Mission Mangal and Housefull 4 may have had a lower weekend vis-a-vis numbers, but benefitted immensely from positive word-of-mouth. As a result, they managed to enter the Rs 200 crore club. Even Total Dhamaal and Kesari had crossed the Rs 150 crore-mark, a feat that Dabangg 3 should be looking to achieve.

Considering the fact that Dabangg 2 had done Rs 156.50 crore in its lifetime, Dabangg 3 would be aiming to go past at least that number in order to keep its equity alive. The Christmas holiday could present the movie with that opportunity.

(Joginder Tuteja is a trade expert and film critic. Views are personal)