Dabangg 3 lost 15% of its weekend business due to CAA protests — but that’s not the only reason

• Dabangg 3 featuring Salman Khan and Sonakshi Sinha, earned ₹73 crore on its first weekend after release.
  
• Film analyst believe the movie could have earned ₹85 crore if not for the CAA protests.
  
• Moreover, the film — that gives a sneak peak of about Chulbul’s secret — hasn’t received good reviews.
  

Bollywood superstar Salman Khan is known to pick and choose the timing of his movie releases and this time around, he might have gotten it wrong. While his much-awaited Dabangg 3 earned ₹73 crore on its first weekend, it could have been better.
Film analysts believe that the movie could have earned ₹85 crore had it been a normal weekend without the CAA protests.

“There has probably been some stabilization of the law and order issues as some places have grown more than others as they managed more screenings but still the film would have lost a reasonable amount of business. The Delhi / UP circuit is still heavily affected,” repored Boxoffice India.

The recently passed Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) triggered protests, leading to clashes between police and protestors. In most cases, it lead to imposition of Section 144, internet and metro shutdowns and massive traffic jams.


Yet, the movie itself is raking in the moolah. It registered the fourth best weekend ever in 2019 after War, Bharat and Saaho (Hindi). On the third day of release, its collections grew by 30% growth registering ₹29 crore in net earnings. It collected ₹24.5 crore on the first day of its release and ₹22 crore on the second day. The Christmas holidays on the horizon may bring a lot more people into the theatres.

The film is released in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada. The Prabhudeva directorial also stars Sonakshi Sinha and Mahesh Manjrekar's daughter Saiee Manjrekar also makes her debut in it . The film also features Kannada superstar Kichcha Sudeep in as the villain.

Good profits, bad story

This is the third installment of the much loved character Chulbul Pandey, a role that catapulted him to a star reviving his then flailing career in 2010. The movie takes viewers back to reveal a secret making it a prequel of sorts. However, the Khan magic might have faded this time, as critics remained unimpressed.

They labelled it a “disaster”.

“Watching Dabangg 3 it’s clear that the law of diminishing returns has caught up with this franchise. There is just no polite way to say this – the new film is an excruciating, exhausting bore,” wrote film critic Rajeev Masand.

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