Chandigarh, Jan 5: Protests against amir Khan Khan-Anushka Sharma-starrer PK notwithstanding, Rajkumar Hirani's latest has crossed Rs. 300 crore-mark within 17 days of its release.
Interestingly, Aamir Khan's movies have been the benchmarks for box office collection of Bollywood films for some time. His Ghajini was the first Hindi movie to cross Rs. 100 crore and 3 Idiots became the first Hindi film to cross Rs. 200 crore. And now, PK has created a new category - the Rs. 300-crore-club.
In fact, it seems like the controversies have only helped PK stay in news even after two weeks of its release. Directed by Rajkumar Hirani, the film is facing protests by some religious outfits for allegedly hurting religious sentiments.
PK, which also features Sushant Singh Rajput in a pivotal role, earned Rs. 6.85 crore on Friday (January 2), Rs.8.32 crore on Saturday and approx Rs. 6.16 crore on Sunday, which was the 17th day of the film's release. The film came out on December 19.
Interestingly, Aamir Khan's movies have been the benchmarks for box office collection of Bollywood films for some time. His Ghajini was the first Hindi movie to cross Rs. 100 crore and 3 Idiots became the first Hindi film to cross Rs. 200 crore. And now, PK has created a new category - the Rs. 300-crore-club.
In 2013, Dhoom 3 averaged Rs. 265 crore on the ticket windows and Chennai Express collected around Rs.258 crore in domestic markets. Salman Khan-starrer Kick averaged over Rs. 200 crore, one of the top grossers of 2014.
Censor Board Member's criticism
A film censor board member on Monday claimed to have objected to some of the scenes of the Amir Khan-starrer PK ahead of the film's release but they were ignored.
According to the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) member Satish Kalyankar, he had raised the objection over some scenes before the board's CEO but the latter paid no heed to his concerns.
Some members of the censor board on Monday visited the ashram of Shankaracharya Swaroopanand Saraswati of Dwarakpeeth who has sought the Rajkumar Hirani directed film PK should be banned for having hurt sentiments of some in the Hindu community.
Talking to reporters in the presence of Swami Swaroopanand Saraswati here, Kalyankar said he had sought a meeting to register his objection before the censor board CEO, failing which he conveyed his concerns in writing to him. But the scenes were not deleted.
Kalyankar, also a member of the film screening committee, said that the film certainly violates the already laid rules, one of which requires that a film should not contain such scenes or dialogues that hurt any community's religious sentiments.
Films can be publicly exhibited in India only after they have been certified by the CBFC.