MS Dhoni: The Untold Story brings in Rs.66 crore opening weekend; second-biggest of 2016

MS Dhoni: The Untold Story starring Sushant Singh Rajput and based on the life of Indian cricket team captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni brought in Rs. 66 crore in the opening weekend. Dhoni’s biopic claimed the record for the largest opening weekend by a biopic, along with the second-biggest opening weekend of 2016.

Only Salman Khan-starrer Sultan managed more at the Bollywood box office during the opening weekend in 2016. While Sultan brought in Rs. 180.3 crore in its opening weekend, Dhoni’s biopic managed less than half but still claimed second spot on this year’s opening weekend highest collection list.

The film’s collection of Rs. 21.30 crore on its first day was the second-biggest of 2016 behind only Sultan’s tally of Rs. 36.5 crore and thus became the second highest opener of 2016. On the second day, the movie fared just slightly worse but still picked up Rs. 20.60 crore for a two-day total of Rs. 41.90 crore. On Sunday, Dhoni’s biopic brought in Rs. 24.10 crore to finish with a opening weekend gross of Rs. 66 crore.

MS Dhoni: The Untold Story became only the fifth Bollywood movie released in 2016 to open in excess of Rs. 50 crore at the opening weekend. Sultan, Housefull 3, Fan and Rustom were the other four to achieve this feat.

Trade analyst Taran Adarsh shared the box office collection of the movie so far on Twitter.

What this means to the movie’s final box office tally remains to be seen but it already looks as though this movie has the legs to become the second-biggest Bollywood movie of 2016. While Sultan’s tally of Rs. 300 crore is way out of reach, a tally closer to the Salman Khan movie’s opening weekend should not be ruled.

Should it reach the Rs. 180 crore mark, which Sultan managed in its opening weekend, or anywhere near it, the biopic will easily overtake Airlift, which has raked in Rs. 129 crore, and take the No.2 spot in the list of highest grossing Bollywood movies of 2016.

The movie takes the audience through the journey of a small boy from Jharkhand who went onto to become India’s most successful captain. While the cricketing aspects of how he achieved this is already common knowledge, the film divulges details about his personal life, which remained private until the release of this movie on September 30.

Aside from talking about his family and his childhood, the film also describes the women in Dhoni’s life in detail and builds the anticipation towards the climax of the movie, which sees the Indian captain walking out to bat in the ICC World Cup 2011 final at the Wankhede Stadium.

MS Dhoni: The Untold Story has been declared tax free in Uttar Pradesh and was also declared tax free in Dhoni’s home state of Jharkhand earlier, which will be a big boost to the film’s chances of turning into a blockbuster hit.

#MSDhoniTheUntoldStory is SENSATIONAL... Packs a SOLID total... Fri 21.30 cr, Sat 20.60 cr, Sun 24.10 cr. Total: 66 cr. India biz.

— taran adarsh (@taran_adarsh) October 3, 2016