Sanju box office: Ranbir Kapoor film all set to beat Salman Khan’s Tiger Zinda Hai, become third highest earner ever

Ranbir Kapoor’s Sanju, a biopic on actor Sanjay Dutt’s life, is mere days away from becoming the second highest grossing Hindi film in India, leaping over the records of Tiger Zinda Hai and PK.

Ranbir Kapoor-starrer Sanju, the biopic of actor Sanjay Dutt, has made ₹333 crore in India, according to trade reports, and is a mere ₹6 crore away from crossing Salman Khan-starrer Tiger Zinda Hai’s box office earnings. The Rajkumar Hirani film is still going strong at the box office.

Handout still from the film "Sanju"

Trade analyst taran Adarsh tweeted the latest figures on Monday. According to him, Sanju, directed by Rajkumar Hirani, made ₹202 crore in its first week, ₹92 crore in week two, ₹31 crore in its third week and another ₹6 crore in its fourth weekend. It is expected that the film will cross Tiger Zinda Hai’s ₹339 crore earnings by the end of this week.

Despite making more than ₹500 crore worldwide, Sanju has received mixed critical response, with most critics complaining that the film had whitewashed some of the more controversial aspects of Dutt’s life. Filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma has already announced his own Dutt biopic, which he says will tell the true story, warts and all.

Once Sanju crosses Tiger Zinda Hai’s record, it will need just another day or two to eclipse the box office total of Hirani’s last film, PK, which made ₹340 crore in India. This will make Sanju the second highest grossing Hindi film of all time, behind Aamir Khan’s Dangal ( ₹374 crore). The highest grossing Indian film (in India) is Baahubali: The Conclusion ( ₹511 crore for the dubbed Hindi version).

Fox Star Studios is also planning on releasing the film in the lucrative Chinese market. “We have buyers from China looking at the film and they have shown massive interest. There is active discussion for the release in the market there. We are hoping it will release in China before the end of this year. We will start with the release of the second part then see how it goes and take it forward from there,” said CEO Vijay Singh.

In an interview to Indian Express, he added, “We have clocked the biggest non-holiday Monday when Sanju hit ₹25 crore mark. When I look at the international market, we got the second highest for the US, middle east and Australia. In the UK, it’s the highest GBO (gross box office) ever for a 15 rated film and the highest GBO in Pakistan.”

Films such as Dangal and Secret Superstar have made more in China - the world’s second biggest movie market - than in India.

Highest earning Hindi films ever...

Sanju: ₹333 crore

Tiger Zinda Hai: ₹339 crore

PK: ₹340 crore

Dangal: ₹374 crore

Baahubali The Conclusion: ₹511 crore (Hindi dubbed version)

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