Shah Rukh's Rab Ne... may become biggest grosser of 2008

In what is being termed as the biggest hit of 2008, based on its first 10-days box office collection, Shah Rukh Khan starrer Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi has managed to collect about Rs 60 crore so far, of which nearly half has come from the overseas markets.

This exceeds earlier successful box office collections for the first 10 days, for films like Singh is Kinng (about Rs 48 crore), Race and Jodhaa Akbar ( about Rs 45 crore each) released earlier this year. With Rab Ne..., the Yash Raj banner has tasted success after a stint of commercially unsuccessful films like Tashan and Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic that were released earlier this year.

Also, in its second week of running, Rab Ne... managed to collect about Rs 7 crore on its second Sunday, similar to its collections on the first day of its release on December 12, trade experts from Mumbai said.

Experts say that by the time Aamir Khan's Ghajini is released on December 24, Rab Ne... will end up with at least Rs 80 crore of collections. Meanwhile, Aamir's Ghajini is also releasing about 1,200 prints like Rab Ne... did, including 300 prints in the overseas markets.

“It is widely anticipated that Ghajini may also do a similar business as Rab Ne... did. However, till it is released, Rab Ne... would have increased its collections beyond Rs 80 crore, a big milestone for a Bollywood release this year,” a Mumbai-based trade analyst said.

According to trade collections, Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi raked in about Rs 17 crore from the first three days alone in the overseas market, including collections in North America, (Rs 7 crore), the UK (Rs 2-3 crore) and UAE (Rs 5 crore-plus).