SRK and Taapsee in a still from Dunki. (courtesy: YouTube)
Shah Rukh Khan's Dunki continues to leave a lasting impact at the box office and how. On Day 21, the Rajkumar Hirani directorial, which was released last year on December 21, minted Rs 1.35 crore (across all languages) at the Indian box office, as per Sacnilk. With Dunki's steady run on its third Wednesday, its total business now stands at Rs 220.72 crore. The film, headlined by SRK also features Taapsee Pannu, Vicky Kaushal and Boman Irani in important roles. Shah Rukh Khan's film, which revolves around themes like aspirations, identity and migration, is receiving love from all quarters. Meanwhile, at the global box office, Dunki is eyeing to breach the Rs 450 crore mark. The official Instagram page of Red Chillies Entertainment, which has jointly backed Dunki alongside JIO Studios and Rajkumar Hirani Films announced the big news through a post. Sharing a poster of Shah Rukh Khan's character Hardy, the production house informed that the film has amassed Rs 447.70 crores globally. The caption read, “This rollercoaster journey is winning hearts and entertaining audiences globally.”
Ahead of the release of the film, Shah Rukh Khan – who plays Hardayal Singh Dhillon aka Hardy in the film – said that Dunki allowed him to be age-honest. Speaking of taking on a more “age-centric role”, the superstar said: “ I am 58 now, aur mujhe aise lagta hai ki mujhe age-centric roles karne chahiye [And I feel that I should take age-centric roles.] And if I get an opportunity in a film, of course, 100 per cent. Jab hum... Jawan zada commercial [Jawan was too commercial]… in your face kind of character hai, I won't call it caricature, but it is an over-the-top old person. But in this film, yeh bahut real hai [It's very real.] Dunki mein bahut real hai. [It is very real in Dunki.]. I would say I have been age-honest for the first time in Dunki. It's more close to my age."
“And Dunki mein ek choti si baat hai, ki ye ek promise hai, ek vaada hai, ek soldier ka. To ek journey hai, to vohi is film ki I think intriguing quality hai. Ki vo jo journey hai vo ek span krti hai time, so like a saga. [In Dunki, there's a lot of reality. And within Dunki, there's a small thing – it's a promise, a vow, of a soldier. So, it's a journey; that, I think, is the intriguing quality of this film. The journey spans across time, so it's like a saga.],” the superstar added.
Dunki was SRK's third release – and blockbuster – in 2023. His other 2023 releases, Pathaan and Jawan, broke several box office records to become the highest-grossing films in the history of Hindi cinema.