Aamir 3 IDIOTS fetches Rs 240 crore, tops US, raises bar for SRK!!

Aamir Khan-Kareena Kapoor starrer Rajkumar Hirani -directed ‘3 Idiots’, which had the perfectionist Khan play an engineering student half his age, has created a box office record by collecting Rs 240 crores even before the completion of its second week.

The film has smashed all records in India at the box office and Aamir Khan emerged as numero uno darling of the masses in the country, leaving far behind the other famous Khans—Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan. In fact, the film has also broken records in the US by collecting $ 4.8 million, which is the highest point for any bollywood flick.

In the US, due to immense popularity of Shah Rukh Khan, his three films ‘Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna’, ‘Kabhi Khusi Kabhi Gham’, etc, had been among top grossers of all times, but no more. Now, Aamir Khan’s ‘3 Idiots’ is on the top of heap in the US by crossing $4 million mark, which no other Indian movie has done so far.

Trade sources are amazed at the success of Aamir Khan-Kareena Kapoor starrer flick in the US, as Aamir had never been a craze with the NRI crowds there. In fact, overseas territories have traditionally been with Shah Rukh Khan, while the domestic turf has always preferred Aamir for his grounded approache towards life.

However, ‘3 Idiots’ seems to have changed all the rules of the game and Shah Rukh Khan will have to work extra hard to regain his lost overseas empire. Trade sources say that Shah Rukh Khan’s next flick ‘My Name Is Khan’, which has Kajol in the female lead, may prove a deciding factor in Shah Rukh Khan’s career.As the Shah Rukh Khan starrer ‘My Name Is Khan’ has been sold to Fox for a whopping sum of Rs 100 crore, the recovery of that huge amount is a must for Shah Rukh’s bollywood reputation. It is possible only if the flick runs to full houses not only in India but also in the US, which has traditionally been with King Khan.

The pressure is also on Salman Khan, whose flick ‘Veer’ is due for release this month. As Salman Khan’s ‘Veer’ has a cost of around Rs 50 crore, it would need a hit tag at the box office to recover this amount. The film has Salman Khan playing a Pindari warrior opposite newbie Zarine Khan.

For the present, Aamir Khan has clearly won the first round and emerged as the biggest bollywood icon at the box office. And this is not in isolation; he had proved himself to be of the same caliber with his last outing ‘Ghajini’ too.