Salaar box office collections: Prabhas starrer takes 3rd biggest opening for an Indian film in Japan
Salaar has added nearly JPY 5 million on Monday and Tuesday since then, for a total of JPY 23 million (USD 142K) so far. The first week of the film will likely reach around JPY 28 million.
Salaar was released in Japan on 5th July, nearly seven months after its original release. In its opening weekend, the Prabhas starrer action film grossed JPY 18.22 million (USD 113K) playing at nearly 200 locations. This marks the third-largest start for an Indian film in recent times, trailing behind RRR (JPY 45 million) and Saaho (JPY 23 million).
The top opening weekends for Indian films in Japan in recent times are as follows:
Rank | Title | Year | Gross |
---|---|---|---|
1 | RRR | 2023 | JPY 44.35M |
2 | Saaho | 2020 | JPY 23.00M |
3 | Salaar | 2024 | JPY 18.22M |
4 | Pathaan | 2023 | JPY 14.69M |
5 | Dangal | 2018 | JPY 12.40M |
Since its opening weekend, the film has added nearly JPY 5 million on Monday and Tuesday, bringing its total to JPY 23 million (USD 142K) so far. The first week is expected to reach around JPY 28 million, compared to JPY 75 million for RRR and JPY 50 million for Saaho.
The opening numbers for Salaar could have been a bit higher as Prabhas got a good amount of recognition after the success of Baahubali, as evident from the then-record start for Saaho. This time, the release was quite wide, so a stronger start was anticipated. However, Japan is a market that cannot be judged by just one weekend or even one week. Films often continue to play for a long time and can have unpredictable trends, as seen with Baahubali 2 and at a much larger scale for RRR. Baahubali 2 started with just JPY 7 million weekend and went on to gross more than JPY 350 million while RRR grossed JPY 2.4 billion off a weekend of just JPY 45 million.
Having said that, the initial social scores of Salaar aren't as strong as RRR and Baahubali 2 and are more in line with Saaho which had only decent legs in the market. Still, it will be better to watch out for a couple of more days or even weeks to see if the film may get going.
In recent years, there has been an increased inflow of Indian films into Japan, signalling a growing interest. The results have been encouraging with Indian cinema starting to carve out a niche for themselves. As more films find success, this could lead to sustained presence in the market and in time Japan could become a significant market for our films.
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