Salman Khan reacts to Dabangg 3 doing less than expected at box office

Salman Khan has defended the subpar box office collections of his latest film, Dabangg 3 which is speculated to have been impacted by the ongoing nationwide protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). The actor said in a recent interview that the security of the public takes precedence over the success of his film.

He said, according to India Today, 'In such troubled times (for the film) to do well is remarkable. All the credit goes to the fans. And fans have been very loyal to me and they have gone (to see the film).

In North India section 144 was imposed so those collections have not come. But they will go and see the film. I mean first it is their security and then comes Dabangg 3. In other states we have done pretty well.'

Dabangg 3 is poised to cross the Rs 100 crore mark at the box office. The film's collections, after four days of release, stand at Rs 91.85 crore, according to trade analyst Taran Adarsh.

The threequel made Rs 24.5 crore on Friday, Rs 24.75 crore on Saturday, Rs 31.9 crore on Sunday and Rs 10.7 crore on Monday. In comparison, Salman's last outing, Bharat, had made Rs 122 crore in four days of release.

Salman speculated that because of certain restrictions, the north India figures haven't been as strong as anticipated, even though he believes Dabangg 3 is stronger than previous entries in the franchise. He said, 'Because of Dabangg one, came two and now three, which is one of the better films. It is bigger, larger and there is more to say in this film. Sudeep (Kichcha) is appreciated, the husband-wife bond is stronger, his back story, the innocence of how he became Chulbul Pandey. There was lot more to say in this film.'

Salman's co-star, Sonakshi Sinha in an earlier interview had made a similar statement. 'We all know what is going on in the entire country,' she told IANS, referring to the CAA protests, adding: 'I think people know that what is more important, but I am honestly happy with audience response to our film. At this moment, entire country has come together on this matter (CAA protests) and it is more important than a film.'

The reviews for the film have been poor, but the actor said that he values the audience's response more than anything else. He said, 'The reviews of fans you come to know through collection of the film. That is the most important thing. You get to know the scenario in a theatre due to social media as people post videos.'