Salman Khan in the trailer of the film. (Courtesy: SalmanKhan)
Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif's Tiger 3was released on November 12 (Diwali Day). The film has collected ₹ 183 crore so far at the domestic box office. Now, Manoj Desai, the executive director of Maratha Mandir and Gaiety Galaxy theatres, has opened up about Tiger 3's performance at the ticket window. In a conversation with Viral Bollywood, Manoj Desai revealed that he had high hopes for Maneesh Sharma's directorial. He said, “Bahut umeed laga kar rakhi thi. Salman [Khan] ki picture main dono hi theatre mein lagata hun. Hazaar-hazaar seats ke dono theatres hain. Lekin jab picture full [houseful] nahi gayi toh main bohot upset hu. Super duper hit wali baat nahi rahi hai. [I had high hopes. I always show Salman Khan's films in both theatres. Both the theatres have an occupancy of a thousand seats. But after the shows didn't go houseful, I was very upset. The super duper hit quality was missing.]”
Talking about the storyline, Manoj Desai added, “Unhone [Salman Khan] socha hoga ki shayad theek hojayega [film's concept]. Lekin gadbad ho gayi hai. Picture jo socha tha waisa gayi ni hai. Houseful jana band ho gayi hai. Ab upar wala malik hai. [Salman Khan might have thought that this concept would work nicely. But the film didn't perform as expected at the box office. The shows aren't houseful. Now, god can only save us.]”
Talking about the impact of an ensemble cast like Emraan Hashmi, Shah Rukh Khan and Hrithik Roshan, Manoj Desai said that the audience walked out before Hrithik's entry. He said, “Hrithik Roshan ke aane se pehle public bahar nikal jati hai. Pehli baat to yeh hai. Salman [Khan] aur Katrina [Kaif] ki pair bahut acchi hai. Ab yaha kaha gadbad ho gayi mujhe malum nahi hai. Kuch logo ko to sharminda hona chahiye mere samne, jo mujhe bolne aaye the ‘Jab tak Shah Rukh [Khan] aya bada maza aya, baki picture mein kuch nahi hai.' [The audience didn't wait for Hrithik Roshan's entry in the film. Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif's on-screen chemistry is good. Now, I don't know where it went wrong. A few people should be ashamed of themselves, who came and told me, ‘The film was fun till the time Shah Rukh Khan was on screen, rest the film has nothing to offer'.]” FYI: Hrithik Roshan's Fighter is also part of Yash Raj's spy universe. The film will be released in January next year. SRK's Pathaan, which opened to theatres earlier this year, saw Salman Khan's Tiger in a special appearance.
Meanwhile, Tiger 3 minted ₹18.50 crore on Thursday, registering a fall in collection from day 4 when it made ₹20.50 crore, as per Sacnilk. The film is the third instalment in the Tiger franchise. Tiger 3 is backed by Yash Raj Films.