All the trade pundits' predictions seem to have come true with the latest reports on Ranbir Kapoor's new offering, Sanju. Sanju's box office collections come as great news for Ranbir Kapoor, who's desperately in need of a hit, as well as Rajkumar Hirani, who now has a 100% track record of delivering blockbusters with all of his 5 movies smashing the box office. As mentioned by trade analyst, Taran Adarsh, Sanju has managed to mint Rs 120.60 crore in the first three days of its release, making it the highest weekend opening for a film in 2018. Sanju's box office collection has surpassed that of Deepika Padukone's Padmaavat, Salman Khan's latest movie, Race 3, Baaghi 2 and Raid.
TOP 5 - 2018
Opening Weekend biz...
1. #Sanju ₹ 120.06 cr
2. #Padmavaat ₹ 114 cr [5-day *extended* weekend; select previews on Wed, released on Thu]... Hindi + Tamil + Telugu.
3. #Race3 ₹ 106.47 cr
4. #Baaghi2 ₹ 73.10 cr
5. #Raid ₹ 41.01 cr
India biz.
- taran adarsh (@taran_adarsh) July 2, 2018
The film was released across 4000 screens in India, and 1300 screens overseas.
Rajkumar Hirani's Sanju grossed Rs 34.75 crore on Friday, Rs 38.60 crore on Saturday, and Rs 46.71 crore on Sunday.
#Sanju sets the BO on 🔥🔥🔥... Gets #JaaduKiJhappi from the audience... Collects ₹ 46.71 cr on Sun, MIND-BOGGLING... Has an EXCEPTIONAL ₹ 💯 cr+ opng weekend... Emerges HIGHEST OPENING WEEKEND of 2018... Fri 34.75 cr, Sat 38.60 cr, Sun 46.71 cr. Total: ₹ 120.06 cr. India biz.
- taran adarsh (@taran_adarsh) July 2, 2018
Not only did Sanju become the movie with the highest-opening weekend, it also set a record for the highest single day collection of any Hindi movie with its Sunday's collections. Sanju's Sunday collections surpassed Baahubali 2's third day collection. Baahubali 2 had earned Rs 46.50 crore on Day 3, while Sanju managed Rs 46.71 crore.
#Sanju creates H-I-S-T-O-R-Y... Records HIGHEST SINGLE DAY for a HINDI film... DEMOLISHES the record held by #Baahubali2 [Hindi]... #Baahubali2 had collected ₹ 46.50 cr on Day 3 [Sun]… #Sanju has surpassed it, collects ₹ 46.71 cr on Day 3 [Sun]. India biz. Boxoffice on 🔥🔥🔥
- taran adarsh (@taran_adarsh) July 2, 2018
Sanju has performed exceedingly well in the Australia box office as well. It has already crossed the opening weekend business of Dhoom 3, PK, Sultan, Dangal, Tiger Zinda Hai as well as Baahubali 2. In terms of this year's opening weekend collections in Australia, it is surpassed only by Padmaavat.
The Kapoor scion can finally breathe a sigh of relief given Bombay Velvet, Jagga Jasoos, and Besharam had completely collapsed at the box office and things were looking a bit grim. Not only has he delivered a blockbuster this time around, his performance is also being touted as his career-best till now.
Earlier, Padmavaat had collected Rs 114 crore over the opening weekend, while, the recently-released Salman Khan-starrer, Race 3, had raked in Rs 106.47 crore in the first three days. Taran Adarsh has called Sanju a masterpiece, and director Hirani a master storyteller.
Sanju chronicles the life of the beloved "Baba" of Bollywood, Sanjay Dutt, who is popularly known as Sanju, a nickname given by his mother, Nargis. It unravels the mysteries and hypes that surround the actor. While some have questioned the accuracy of certain parts of Dutt's life, the film nonetheless ends up demystifying many conjectures which surround the actor. Paresh Rawal, Manisha Koirala, Dia Mirza, Sonam Kapoor, and Anushka Sharma are also a part of the ensemble.
Incidentally, Vidhu Vinod Chopra, producer of Sanju, was considering Ranveer Singh to play the titular role. However, it was Hirani who convinced Chopra that Kapoor would be a more fitting choice. "When Raju came to me, I said, 'How can Ranbir do this?' I'm telling you now that when I see the film, one of the things that really moves me is his performance. He is just outstanding. And I've worked with too many actors to be able to say that," Chopra told India Today Television in an exclusive interview, adding that he was foolish to have dismissed Ranbir initially.
All eyes are on the next frontier now - how soon will Sanju rake in Rs 200 crore?