Dilwale enters list of highest foreign grossers in 10 days

With its release slated in other non-traditional territories abroad, the movie might topple Bajrangi Bhaijaan from the second spot

Shah Rukh Khan has added another film to the top 10 foreign collectors from Bollywood with Dilwale.

The pre-Christmas release, starring Khan, Kajol, Varun Dhawan and Kriti Sanon in lead roles, has grossed $18.5 million in the first 10 days. This puts the Rohit Shetty directorial at the number seven spot in the top 10, overtaking Happy New Year.

IN THE BIG LEAGUE

• Dilwale has grossed $18.5 million in the first 10 days of release
• The movie was released in 1,210 screens abroad
• This puts the movie at the number seven spot in the top 10 Bollywood movies
• Salman Khan’s Bajrangi Bhaijaan takes the second spot with $29 million, followed by Dhoom 3 (2013) at $28 million
• The movie with the highest foreign collections from Bollywood is Aamir Khan’s PK, released last December. The film has made $47 million in the international circuit

The highest foreign collector from Bollywood is Aamir Khan’s PK, released last December. The film has made about $47 million in the international circuit, with China contributing almost $17 million to this number. Salman Khan’s 2015 Eid release Bajrangi Bhaijaan takes the second spot with $29 million, followed by Dhoom 3 (2013) at $28 million.

Dilwale is co-produced by SRK’s Red Chillies Entertainment and Rohit Shetty and was released in 1,210 screens abroad. While the majority of the screens were in traditional markets–North America (the US and Canada), the UK and West Asia, the film also released day and date in new territories like Jordan, Spain, Finland, Trinidad and Guyana.

The film will release after a couple of weeks in Germany, Iraq, Palestine, Peru, Switzerland, Morocco, Austria and Egypt, which is expected to add to the international revenues further.

“Shah Rukh Khan’s popularity in the international circuit makes it possible to explore new territories. Ideally, around 85-90 per cent of the foreign collection comes from traditional markets. However, in case of Dilwale, we notice the new or non-traditional markets’ contribution at 30-35 per cent. This has helped expand the scope of the international performance for the film,” says Gaurav Verma, chief revenue officer, Red Chillies Entertainment.

South East Asian markets like Malaysia and Indonesia are also contributing well to the foreign collection, he adds. The film’s headline song, Gerua, was dubbed in Malay to familiarise audiences. It was the top song on iTunes in Malaysia around the release.

With this, Khan has five films in the top 10, the others being My Name Is Khan (2010), Happy New Year (2014), Chennai Express (2013) and Jab Tak Hai Jaan (2012). Interestingly, all the 10 movies in the list star one of the three Khans — Aamir, Salman or Shah Rukh.

Experts believe that Dilwale has a good chance of breaking into the top five, even top three. If it does manage to beat Bajrangi Bhaijaan’s collections of $29 million, the movie would have grossed close to Rs 199 crore. Currently, the movie has made Rs 185 crore gross (approximately) or Rs 130 crore net (after entertainment tax) in the domestic market.

In other words, Bollywood might see a big-ticket movie make comparable money in the international and domestic market. Last year, Dar Motions Pictures’ The Lunchbox made double the money in the international market compared to the domestic circuit. However, The Lunchbox was made at a much smaller budget as compared to Dilwale.

In the coming months, the film will be released on iTunes in various countries and Red Chillies is also hoping to release it in China, regulatory conditions permitting.

Movie (year of release)	International box office collection (in USD million)
PK (2014)	47
Bajrangi Bhaijaan (2015)	29
Dhoom 3 (2013)	28
3 Idiots (2009)	26
My Name is Khan (2010)	23
Chennai Express (2013)	19.3
Dilwale (2015)	18.5
Happy New Year (2014)	15
Prem Ratan Dhan Payo (2015)	14.2
Jab Tak Hai Jaan (2012)	13.56
Source: Industry Estimates