Salman Khan’s latest Bollywood release Dabangg 3 may have lost at least Rs 9 crore as a result of reduced box office collections due to ongoing protests against the amended Citizenship Act. Bollywood trade analyst Taran Adarsh said that the ongoing anti-CAA protests had hit the box office collections of Dabangg 3 ‘hard.’
Adarsh wrote on Twitter, “#Dabangg3 stays in the same range on Day 2… Few circuits up, few down… Protests hit biz hard… Loses approx ₹ 7.5 cr to ₹ 9 cr in 2 days… Biz should see a turnaround on Day 3 [Sun]… Fri 24.50 cr, Sat 24.75 cr. Total: ₹ 49.25 cr. India biz. Note: All versions.”
#Dabangg3 stays in the same range on Day 2… Few circuits up, few down… Protests hit biz hard… Loses approx ₹ 7.5 cr to ₹ 9 cr in 2 days… Biz should see a turnaround on Day 3 [Sun]… Fri 24.50 cr, Sat 24.75 cr. Total: ₹ 49.25 cr. India biz. Note: All versions.
— taran adarsh (@taran_adarsh) December 22, 2019
The film that also stars Sonakshi Sinha and Sai Manjrekar, had earned Rs 24.5 crore. This was considerably less than the collections made by Salman’s another realse this year, Bharat, which had earned Rs 42.3 crore on the day of its release.
Salman has come under heavy criticism for not breaking his silence against the police crackdown on the protesters. At least 16 protesters have died in Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka, both BJP-ruled states.
In Uttar Pradesh, cops were seen opening fire using pistols at the unarmed protesters. Of the 16 killings, 14 have died in police firing in Uttar Pradesh alone. The spike in the killings of unarmed protesters has taken place after Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath vowed to avenge the damage to public property caused by protesters.