The paying audience has once again demonstrated that it has a mind of its own , and has asserted for the nth time that they are not swayed much by the views of a few pseudo-intellectual critics on whether to watch or not to watch a commercial potboiler. Obviously we are referring to Rohit Shetty's Shahrukh Khan and Deepika Padukone starrer, CHENNAI EXPRESS.

Coming to the number crunching, CHENNAI EXPRESS has opened to a mammoth response, not only in India but also in the overseas, starting on a record breaking note.

The first record that has been broken is for the paid previews, where CHENNAI EXPRESS has bettered Aamir Khan's 3 IDIOTS total of 2.75 crore by about 3.75 crores, netting 6.50 crore on Thursday. And very much as per our prediction, CHENNAI EXPRESS has seen a humongous first day in the range of 25 -30 crore (as per initial estimates), and is all set to shatter the 3-day (62-63 crore) weekend record of Ranbir Kapoor's YEH JAWAANI HAI DEEWANI by at least 10-15 crore.

While that was about India, King Khan has re-iterated that he is still unchallenged in the overseas territory by grossing an unbelievable £143,000 in the UK from the Thursday paid previews itself, and one can only fathom what figures Friday, Saturday and Sunday will throw up!

In the Gulf, where the film had a full first day on Thursday, CE has grossed well in excess of AED 500,000. For those who want to know about South-East Asia, and in particular Singapore, CE has already grossed $115,000 (approx.).

Well, as they say in trade parlance, a good start is half the battle won, and so CE is all set to zip past the magical 100 crore mark by Independence Day, if not earlier.


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Keywords:Rohit Shetty,Shahrukh Khan , Deepika Padukone, CHENNAI EXPRESS,Aamir Khan, 3 IDIOTS, Ranbir Kapoor, YEH JAWAANI HAI DEEWANI , King Khan,Hindi film news,Bollywood film news