'Dunki' box office: SRK starrer continues to be slow
Shah Rukh Khan has had a remarkable 2023, with three releases separated by a few months. In January, he took the nation by storm with Siddharth Anand's Pathaan, in September, he appeared in a dual role in the mass mania Jawan, and in December, he abandoned his hypermasculinity for a mellowed-down role in Dunki. The lattermost, however, is his weakest film out of the three, and after receiving mixed to negative reviews, is somehow slowly crawling at the box office.
Looking at 'Dunki' in numbers
Per trade tracker website Sacnilk, the Rajkumar Hirani directorial minted Rs. 7.25cr on Friday, which has now taken its total earnings to Rs. 167.47cr. Dunki's overall occupancy rate on its ninth day was 20.74%, with cities like Chennai (35.5%) and Bengaluru (33%) showing the highest numbers, particularly for evening and night screenings. With the weekend and the New Year holiday upon us, Dunki is expected to perform slightly better in the coming days.
Competition with Prabhas's 'Salaar: Part 1—Ceasefire'
One significant factor contributing to Dunki's underperformance is the competition put up by Prashanth Neel's Salaar: Part One—Ceasefire, headlined by Prabhas and Prithviraj Sukumaran. Prabhas's megastardom has pulled the audience to theaters, especially in the southern areas of India, which has directly dented Dunki's sales. According to Sacnilk, so far, Salaar added Rs. 10cr to its coffer on Friday and is still going unchallenged at the box office with Rs. 318cr India (nett) collections!
Familiarize yourself with 'Dunki's plot
The story revolves around Hardy (Khan), Manu (Taapsee Pannu), Sukhee (Vicky Kaushal), Balli (Anil Grover), and Buggu (Vikram Kochhar). All of them have their own reasons for traveling to England, but since English isn't their strong suit, their visas are repeatedly denied. Then, led by Hardy, they reach England illegally through the "donkey route." The film marks Hirani's debut collaboration with SRK. Here is our review of Dunki.
SRK's next projects
Up next, SRK is expected to be seen in Sujoy Ghosh's tentatively titled King, where he will have an extended cameo. His daughter Suhana Khan—who recently made her acting debut with Netflix's The Archies—will make her theatrical debut with King. SRK also has Tiger Vs Pathaan in the pipeline and recently revealed that his next project will go on floors in the summer of 2024.
