In December 2023, Shah Rukh Khan, after ‘Pathaan’ and ‘Jawan’ had his 3rd release of the year 2023 with “Dunki”, a rarity that had not happened in almost last two decades.
The last time ‘Bollywood’s King’ had delivered 3 lead-act films was back in 2004 that saw the release of ‘Main Hoon Na’, ‘Veer Zara’ and ‘Swades’.
The comedic drama directed by filmmaker Rajkumar Hirani, starring Taapsee Pannu, with a special appearance by Vicky Kaushal, the film explored the poignant theme of “donkey flights” – an illegal immigration method.
Produced by a powerhouse trio of Red Chillies Entertainment, Jio Studios, and Rajkumar Hirani Films, “Dunki” hit theaters on December 21st, facing a box-office clash with Prabhas’ action-packed “Salaar: Cease Fire – Part 1.”
Despite the competition, “Dunki” has emerged a clean hit at the global box office, raking in over ₹470 crore.
The dramedy has become the 5th highest Hindi-language worldwide grosser and the 4th highest overseas grosser among Hindi releases.
Dunki’s performance at the box office has outshone even the franchise action film Tiger 3 (463 cr INR), with Dunki surpassing it in worldwide collections in its 5th week run. The Indian box office figures for Dunki are at 232.53 crore nett in its five-week run.
The overseas market also contributed significantly to Dunki’s global run, becoming the 4th highest after ‘Pathaan (est. $50 million), ‘Jawan’ (est. $48 million), Ranbir Kapoor’s ‘Animal’ (est. $29 million)’, with a total of $23.86 million in five weeks.
The film’s worldwide gross is 470.60 crore ($56.53 million), making it the top fifth highest-grossing Bollywood film release of 2023.
Here’s a breakdown of Dunki’s box office performance (Source: Red Chillies Entertainment/Box Office Worldwide)
India:
- 1st Week: ₹160.23 crore
- 2nd Week: ₹48.70 crore
- 3rd Week: ₹16.35 crore
- 4th Week: ₹4.50 crore
- 5th Week: ₹2.75 crore (4 days)
- Total: ₹232.53 crore nett
Overseas:
- 1st Week: $16.48 million
- 2nd Week: $5.02 million
- 3rd Week: $1.52 million
- 4th Week: $0.45 million
- 5th Week: $0.39 million
- Total: $23.86 million
Worldwide:
- 1st Week: ₹323.77 crore
- 2nd Week: ₹99.13 crore
- 3rd Week: ₹32 crore
- 4th Week: ₹9.20 crore
- 5th Week: ₹6.50 crore (4 days)
- Total: ₹470.60 crore gross
Dunki is nearing its box office run but the movie has now joined the Top 5 Bollywood grosser of 2023 edging past Salman Khan’s ‘Tiger 3’.
The the top 5 Hindi films of 2023 sees SRK’s ‘Jawan’ lead the pack with ₹1184 crore, followed by SRK’s ‘Pathaan’ at ₹1050 crore, Ranbir Kapoor’s ‘Animal’ at ₹901 crore, Sunny Deol’s ‘Gadar2’ at ₹686 crore, and ‘Dunki’ at ₹470.60* crore.
Onto the new year, the first Bollywood biggie of 2024 is Hrithik Roshan and Deepika Padukone starrer ‘Fighter‘, directed by ‘Pathaan’ fame Siddharth Anand, set to release on 25th of January.