Film picks up on Day 3; first weekend collections stand at Rs. 81.15 cr

A still from the movie Dabangg 3 (Picture courtesy/YouTube screengrab from T-Series channel)

Salman Khan's latest release Dabangg 3, which hit the screens on December 20, has been performing decently at the Box Office. While the film's initial (first and second day) collections were affected majorly due to the protests over the Citizenship Amendment Act across major cities of India, the movie picked up on its third day - 1st Sunday at the Box Office. Dabangg 3 collected Rs 31.90 crore on Day 3, taking its first weekend total to Rs. 81.15 crore.

Film critic Taran Adarsh tweeted that Dabangg 3 partially regained lost ground on Day 3, but overall lost a big chunk of opening weekend business which is approximately Rs 12 crore, due to protests. The film critic further predicted that Day 4 - 1st Monday will be crucial for the film's business. Nevertheless, high hopes are pinned on Christmas celebrations - Tueday evening onwards and Wednesday).

The Prabhudeva-directed film stars Salman Khan along with Sonakshi Sinha and introduces actor-filmmaker Mahesh Manjrekar's daughter Saiee Manjrekar in a pivotal role. The film also features Kannada superstar Kichcha Sudeep in the role of the villain.

Meanwhile, Dabangg 3 has been trimmed by almost nine minutes as the film was critcised for being too long with a duration of over two hours. The film reportedly has too many songs and was criticised majorly because it served as a hindrance in the narrative. According to bollywoodhungama.com, the producers of "Dabangg 3" decided to shorten the film by nine minutes from the second day of its release. Theatres were instructed to play the revised version with immediate effect. A source told the portal: "Out of nine minutes, approximately eight minutes have been removed from the first half. The song ‘Awara', featuring Salman and Saiee Manjrekar, has been edited out. Also, their other song ‘Naina Lade' has been slightly trimmed. "Moreover, a few comedy scenes didn't elicit the desired laughs from the moviegoers. Those too have been chucked out from the revised version."

The source added: "The film has been loved for Salman Khan's performance, it's action, power-packed climax and emotional quotient. All of them have been retained. The makers now hope that this new and shorter version will create a better impact on the viewers."

Catch up on all the latest entertainment news and gossip here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates

Edited by mid-day online desk, with inputs from IANS