Salman Khan and Eid - The two words are pretty much synonymous of each other. In the current decade, barring 2013, Salman Khan has seen an Eid release every year. Each of these films has gone past the 100 crore mark with ease. There have been a couple of 100s [Dabangg, Bodyguard], a near double century [Ek Tha Tiger], a double century [Kick] and then a couple of triple centuries [Sultan, Bajrangi Bhaijaan]. The graph has only gone up for Salman Khan and his films if year by year progression is anything to go by.
No wonder, expectations from this Friday's release Tubelight are humungous. The least expectation is for the film to go past the 200 crore mark, and if content turns out to be as emotional and heart-warming as Bajrangi Bhaijaan then sky is the limit.
However, what one waits to see is the kind of opening that the film manages. We have predicted earlier that the film would comfortably find itself between Rs. 25-30 crore opening mark this Friday. Now if one compares this with the other Salman Khan films that have released on Eid this decade, this is how their opening day numbers have looked like:
Sultan [2016] – Rs. 36.54 crore
Bajrangi Bhaijaan [2015] - Rs. 27.25 crore
Kick [2014] - Rs. 26.52 crore
Ek Tha Tiger [2012] - Rs. 33 crore
Bodyguard [2011] - Rs. 21.60 crore
Dabangg [2010] - Rs. 14.50 crore
As can be seen, there was a huge jump from 2011 to 2012 when Ek Tha Tiger bettered the best opening day record for a Salman Khan film [Bodyguard - Rs. 21.60 crore] by more than 50% as it netted 33 crore. This was an out and out action musical entertainer with a notable leading lady [Katrina Kaif]. Though the subsequent couple of films [Kick, Bajrangi Bhaijaan] didn't set any records from the opening day perspective, Salman's Sultan did set one for Eid as it went past the Rs. 35 crore mark. Yet again, it was the coming together of action, emotion, drama, romance, music and a notable heroine that did the trick.
Though one doesn't foresee a record opening for Tubelight as it is primarily riding on the superstar-power of Salman Khan (in an altogether different characterization) and the consistency of Kabir Khan, it would still do well to cross the Rs. 25 crore mark at the least. Post that it would be the content that should take over.
