Aamir Khan's PK creates history, touches Rs 300 crore in domestic collections

In foreign markets movie collected Rs 134 till Saturday; many territories yet to report collections for the weekend

Aamir Khan and the team of PK have started 2015 with a bang, with the film's domestic box office collection touching Rs 300 crore by Sunday.

It marks a new high for Bollywood as the highest earning (domestic) movie ever.

The exact collection for Sunday was not available when this story went to press.

The average occupancy in cinemas on Sunday was about 60%. The numbers are also a milestone for UTV Motion Pictures, which now has the distinction of having the two top grossing films of 2014, with Kick being the second-highest revenue earner at Rs 233 crore.

PK, directed by Rajkumar Hirani and co-produced with Vidhu Vinod Chopra in association with Disney’s UTV Motion Pictures, was released in 4,000 screens across India on December 19.  

OUT OF THE BOX

Top-five box office net collection

• PK (2014) Rs 300 cr*
• Dhoom 3 (2013) Rs 284 cr
• Krrish 3 (2013) Rs 240 cr
• Kick (2014) Rs 233 cr
• Chennai Express (2013) Rs 227 cr

Revenue clubs started by Aamir Khan –

• Rs 100-crore club– Ghajini in 2008 with Rs 190 cr
• Rs 200-crore club– 3 Idiots (2009) with Rs 292 cr
• Rs 300-crore club– PK in 2014 with Rs 300 cr*

Starring Anushka Sharma, Boman Irani and Sushant Singh Rajput, it is a satire on the wrongdoings of so-called godmen. The film's cost is estimated to be about Rs 100 crore.

The record collection also means a hat-trick for Aamir Khan as this is the third time his film has started a new revenue club in Bollywood.

In 2008, film Ghajini became the first to cross Rs 100 crore (Rs 190-crore lifetime collection). In 2009, 3 Idiots was the first to breach Rs 200 crore (lifetime collection Rs 202 crore).

In the process, PK has given Aamir Khan his second movie in the top-five grossers of Bollywood. Until now, the record was held by his 2013 action thriller, Dhoom 3, which collected Rs 284 crore in its lifetime.

At number three is Hrithik Roshan’s Krrish 3 (Rs 240 crore) followed by the 2014 Salman Khan starrer, Kick (Rs 233 crore). The fifth on the list is Shah Rukh Khan’s Chennai Express at Rs 227 crore.

The Khans, who have had a very good year at the box office in 2014, dominate the five highest earning films in Bollywood.

Suniel Wadhwa, an independent distributor and a box office analyst, says, “For the third weekend in a row, PK continued to be an unstoppable force at the box office, doing big business over the New year weekend after brisk business during the Christmas weekend.

The drop in week 2 (from week 1) was around 45 per cent.

This is also the biggest second-week collection by a movie, surpassing Dhoom 3’s  second week record, which was Rs 65 crore net box office, while PK did Rs 95 crore.”

Adding to the money will be collections from the first phase of release in foreign countries.

The film was released in the traditional Bollywood territories abroad — North America, the UK, West Asia, Pakistan and Australia.

PK has collected Rs 134 crore till Saturday with many territories yet to report the final collections for the weekend.

It has become the biggest Bollywood import in North America and Australia this year. It was released in 840-plus screens abroad.

With this, the film’s worldwide gross collection (before tax) is set to be in excess of Rs 600 crore, the highest in Bollywood so far, surpassing Dhoom 3’s collection of Rs 550 crore.