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Salman Khan’s ambitious film could outdo the box office collections of the Raju Hirani-Aamir Khan super-successful 3 Idiots

Salman Khan’s buddy actor Aamir Khan wished that Salman’s film should do better business at the box office than his, and that is exactly what might happen over the weekend with Yash Raj Films’ Ek Tha Tiger. The mania over Salman and Katrina Kaif’s new movie is such that most theatres went houseful for almost all shows on the opening day (August 15 – a holiday). The film has reportedly collected Rs 28-30 crore on the first day itself.

Although Ek Tha Tiger has garnered mixed reviews from critics, the collections tell a different story. And with a weekend approaching and an Eid holiday on Monday, the romantic thriller is likely to overtake the Rs 200-crore record held by Aamir’s 3 Idiots (2009). Boxoffice India reports that Ek Tha Tiger showed 100 percent opening in multiplexes in Noida and Ahmedabad. A Rajinikanth-followers kind of hysteria was seen outside theatres, where fans were dancing to Salman’s songs, garlanding his pictures and praying for a blockbuster film for him.

Cinemax DGM Girish Wankhede confirmed to BollywoodLife, saying, “Ek Tha Tiger has had the biggest opening ever. Cinemax opened it in 120 screens all over India, and all were full. Considering we contribute eight percent to the pan-India collections, the film has collected Rs 28-30 crore overall.”

But will it cross Rs 200 crore on the weekend? Wankhede said, “I would say it will make the fastest Rs 150 crore. And yes, it is likely to cross 3 Idiots’ Rs 202 crore if the hysteria continues over the next four days of holidays. Even today (Thursday), the bookings are humongous.”

The takings of Salman’s Dabangg (2010) came close to 3 Idiots, with Rs 140 crore plus, crossing Aamir’s Ghajini (2008), which collected Rs 114 crore. This year, four films have already crossed the Rs100-crore mark – Agneepath, Housefull 2, Rowdy Rathore and Bol Bachchan. Let’s see if Salman is able to beat all of them with Ek Tha Tiger!

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