Shah Rukh Khan's "Chennai Express" continues its dream run at the domestic box office.
"Chennai Express" surpassed "3 Idiots" record on Friday (23 August) by becoming the biggest grosser of Indian cinema, raking in ₹202.67 crore in the Indian market. The SRK-Deepika Padukone starrer maintained momentum in the third weekend despite new releases.
"Chennai Express" minted ₹2.12 crore on Friday and the collections witnessed an increase on Saturday and Sunday. The third weekend figures have taken the total figures to ₹211.03 crore.
"#ChennaiExpress collected Rs 10.48 cr nett in Weekend 3. Breakup: Fri 2.12 cr, Sat 3.61 cr, Sun 4.75 cr. Grand total: Rs 211.03 cr. ATBB," film critic and trade analyst Taran Adarsh tweeted.
The action-comedy entertainer, which has set up new benchmarks in India as well as overseas, has been declared an "all time blockbuster." Director Rohit Shetty has become the most successful director of Hindi cinema with four of his films crossing ₹100 crore mark, including "Chennai Express" which has surpassed ₹200 crore mark.
The success of "Chennai Express", despite mixed reviews, has proved that SRK is the box office king. The actor has four films - "Chennai Express", "Jab Tak Hai Jaan", "Don 2" and "Ra.One" - in the ₹100 crore club. Salman Khan still rules with five films in the elite club.
Now that "Chennai Express" is performing well, SRK will be shifting his focus to his next project - "Happy New Year." The film will be directed by Shah Rukh's good friend Farah Khan, who is once again repeating Deepika Padukone as the female lead. It may be recalled that Deepika's debut film, "Om Shanti Om" was with Shah Rukh and Farah Khan.
Farah is overwhelmed with the response for "Chennai Express." She feels the success of "Chennai Express" will largely help her upcoming film, "Happy New Year", which is produced by SRK.
"I am very happy at the success of 'Chennai Express'. It has broken all records. Shah Rukh is the hero and producer of my film. Now he will come on the sets of my film filled with more energy and hopefully will shell out more money for my film. I am very happy," Farah told reporters last week.
It remains to be seen if the hit pair of SRK-Deepika will prove to be third time lucky with "Happy New Year", which is expected to be released on Diwali next year.