It cost an estimated 35cr to make, but already 3 Idiots looks well on the way to smashing through this barrier and achieving blockbuster status within a few weeks. It took 4cr alone on Thursday for the paid previews and followed this up with 9cr on its first day of release, that’s 2cr more than Ghajini – making it a hat-trick of Christmas hits for Aamir Khan. “This could be one of the best openings of a movie this year in terms of theatrical revenues,” said a film analyst, “Going by the advance booking numbers, we believe the movie will continue to get similar response for the next few days.”
Nearly 2000 prints of the movie were made, about 20% for the overseas market – and although the Christmas holiday is more disruptive in some of these markets, it has already opened well in Australia. “We are getting an overwhelming response and it’s too early to even put words to the kind of response we are getting,” said producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra, articulating it well, “In Australia, multiplexes have reduced shows of the movie, Avatar, and increased shows for 3 Idiots. Aamir is a special actor and he has proven that he is very good at the box office.”
All four of the great Khans of Bollywood were at the premiere for the movie on Thursday night – Aamir, Salman, Shahrukh and Saif Ali. Salman and Shahrukh were cordial to each other, both of course awaiting major releases of their own in the next two months. The other stars of the movie were also present at the IMAX Wadala – Kareena Kapoor, R Madhavan and of course Sharman Joshi.
