Aamir Khan's wrestling-drama, Dangal, opened worldwide last Christmas (Dec 23) and the film is still running to packed houses across the country.
A biopic on wrestler Mahavir Phogat, the Nitesh Tiwari-directorial explored a nuanced father-daughter story with wrestling weaved in as an integral plot device. Sharply directed, excellently performed, and high on emotion ensured that the film was welcomed at the turnstiles with a lot of love and a fair amount of critical acclaim.
Here are just some of the (odd) records that Dangal has broken in its 12-day run.
1. It had the highest opening for any Indian film in Australia and has now become the highest-grossing Indian film is Oz.
According to veteran trade analyst Komal Nahta, Dangal earned Rs. 1.23 crore on its release day, the highest for any Hindi film.
#Dangal opened to packed houses in Australia (USD 181K), making it the highest opening for any Hindi film ever in Australia!!!
— Komal Nahta (@KomalNahta) December 24, 2016
Taran Adarsh later confirmed that Dangal has surpassed the previous record held by Khan's P.K to become the highest-grossing Indian film down under.
#Dangal sets new benchmarks in Australia, becomes highest grossing Indian film in the region [A$ 2.22 mn] in 12 days. #PK was A$ 2.11 mn.
— taran adarsh (@taran_adarsh) January 3, 2017
2. The film collected more money on Sunday (December 25) i.e the Sunday that fell on its release weekend than any other film in the history of Indian cinema. The previous record was held by Salman Khan's Sultan that had earned Rs. 39 crore on Sunday.
Rs.42.35 crore was the Sunday figure for #Dangal (all versions),the highest Sunday for any film. Weekend total Rs.106.95 crore, highest ever
— Komal Nahta (@KomalNahta) December 26, 2016
3. Effectively, it also broke the record for earning more money than any other film in its opening weekend (including revenue earned from dubbed Tamil and Telugu versions.)
#Dangal hits CENTURY... Crosses ₹ 100 cr mark... Sun biz was HUMONGOUS... Smashing RECORDS... Setting new BENCHMARKS...
— taran adarsh (@taran_adarsh) December 26, 2016
4. According to projected numbers, it will become the fastest film to earn Rs. 300 crore at the box-office.
#Dangal at Rs. 284.69 crore,is just Rs.15.31 crore short of Rs. 300 crore!!!! Will join the 300-crore club by Wednesday night, fastest ever!
— Komal Nahta (@KomalNahta) January 3, 2017
5. Playing in 331 screens, Dangal had the widest release for an Indian film in North America.
A report in Hollywood trade website Deadline.com said: "In North America, Dangal set a record for the biggest Bollywood opening frame ever at $4.3M over the five-day launch, with daily bumps from Wednesday through Sunday on 331 screens. The cume there with Monday factored in is $5.13M."
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