<p>Chatur Ramalingam, a successful business executive, reminds his old college rivals Farhan Qureshi and Raju Rastogi about a bet he had made with their classmate and Chatur’s nemesis Rancchodas Shamaldas Chanchad ten years ago. Chatur has returned to India to conclude a business deal with Phunsukh Wangdu, a famous inventor. The three go to to find Rancho, reminiscing about their time at the Imperial College of Engineering in . In college, Rancho was passionate about learning and often clashed with the strict college director, Dr. Viru Sahastrabuddhe (“Virus”). When a student named Joy Lobo is denied graduation by Virus for not submitting a project, Rancho tries to help Joy finish his project, but finds out that Joy has committed suicide by hanging. Rancho confronts Virus about the intense pressure he puts on students, but Virus dismisses him. Afterwards, Rancho meets Farhan and Raju’s families. Farhan’s father is very strict with him, pushing him into engineering and brushing off his passion for wildlife photography. Raju’s family struggle with poverty, so he is studying to become an engineer. That night, the trio crash a wedding party, not realising it is for Virus’ daughter Mona. Mona’s younger sister, Pia, is initially upset with Rancho but starts liking him after he exposes her materialistic fiancé Suhas, with whom she subsequently breaks up. Virus warns Farhan and Raju about associating with Rancho, so Raju moves in with Chatur, a competitive student who learns by rote. Rancho and Farhan prank Chatur by altering his Hindi speech, leading to his humiliation. Furious, Chatur challenges Rancho to see who is more successful in ten years. Before their final exams, Raju’s father has a heart attack. Rancho and Pia help save him. Virus bets Rancho that neither Farhan nor Raju will get a job after graduation. Rancho tells his friends why they struggle: Farhan’s passion is photography, not engineering, while Raju lacks confidence. Farhan and Raju promise to confront their issues if Rancho confesses his feelings for Pia. They drunkenly break into Virus’s house, and Farhan and Raju urinate on his letterbox. Virus notices Raju at his doorstep and threatens to expel him unless he betrays Rancho. Not wanting to disappoint his family or to betray Rancho, Raju unsuccessfully attempts suicide. He is left paralysed for months, leading Virus to revoke his expulsion. After Raju recovers, he succeeds at a job interview, while Farhan convinces his father to let him become a photographer. Humiliated by Raju’s success, Virus sets a difficult exam so that Raju will fail and be forced to give up his job offer. With Pia’s help, Rancho and Farhan steal the exam paper, but Raju refuses to cheat and throws it away. The trio are nonetheless caught and expelled. Pia confronts her family and reveals that her brother (who dreamt of becoming a writer) committed suicide due to the intense pressure Virus had put him through to become an engineer. On a stormy night, a pregnant Mona goes into labour while unable to reach a hospital, but successfully delivers her baby with the trio’s help. In gratitude, Virus forgives them and gifts his to Rancho. On graduation day, Rancho disappears. In the present day, Farhan, Raju, and Chatur reach Shimla and find out that the person they knew as Rancho was actually “Chhote”. Chhote impersonated the real Rancho—the heir of a rich family for whom Chhote’s father had worked as a gardener—and illicitly earned an engineering degree on his behalf. The group head off to , which is where Chhote lives. On the way, they crash Pia’s wedding in Manali and convince her to ditch her fiancé Suhas and join them instead. In Ladakh, they find Chhote running a school. He accepts Pia’s marriage proposal, and happily reunites with Farhan and Raju. Chatur mocks Chhote for being a mere schoolteacher, but is shocked to learn that Chhote is actually the Phunsukh Wangdu he is eager to do business with. Chatur accepts defeat, and the friends run away laughing. “Chetan gave me this book to read and I wanted to make a film on it. But I knew right from the start that I could not make a film completely on the book, as it was very anecdotal and a film needs a plot. So I had decided to rewrite it in a screenplay format. You’ll see that the film is very different from the book. After I wrote the script, I called Chetan and narrated it to him. I told him that if he did not like the script, I would stop the project. But he was okay with it”. After the success of (2006), the director and screenwriter had plans for third instalment on the , titled . But Hirani felt exhausted working on consecutive films on the same format, and decided to work on fresh script outside the franchise. While writing the first draft of the film, he thought of a new project rather than the new instalment from the film series, but he had concentrated more on the project and then worked on the former first. While thinking about how the project coming under fruition, he got the popular novel by the author . The latter gave this novel for Hirani to read, in order to have an idea about the script. Impressed by the novel, he decided to adapt the screenplay by making changes to the original novel and work on it as a feature film. is considered to be the first of the two adaptations from the novel — the second being (2013), which also drew inspiration from the novel written by Bhagat. In the third collaboration with Hirani after the film series: (2003) and (2006), produced the project under the production company (which earlier named ). Besides producing, Chopra further associated with Hirani and Joshi, by co-writing the screenplay. In his biography , he discussed about the experiences as a co-writer being associated in the project. An official announcement regarding the film was made during early-2008, after working in the script for more than one-and-a-half year. During the pre-production, Hirani went to multiple engineering colleges, including those under the in and , to authenticate the lives of engineering students. He met many students and took pictures along with them. He needed the references for the clothes used, their looks and things they brought as many IIT-students were older than the fictional characters. The film also had shared many anecdotes from his college life, since Hirani had used to study in hostel during his young period. Hirani had carefully looked upon the notion in the lives of engineering students, as there are few things apart from drugs, sex and violence. However, Hirani had said that the film plays a satirical take on social pressures under an Indian . Apart from that, the film also addresses the issue of tussle between parents and children, but in a “sugar-coated manner”. During the promotions of the film, Hirani stated that “the film is completely different of the film series; in terms of the characters, story and the environment. However, both the films fall in the same genre, where all three films are heartwarming stories with lovable characters making it feel good. Both films have true emotions in the heart, happiness, sadness and also leave a strong message to the audience in the ending that make us satisfy”. The casting of the lead actors was considered to be “complex”, according to Hirani. He thought of many actors playing the lead roles and also went on a six-month audition across the country, during which newcomers like , , , , and also had auditioned. Rohan Mapuskar, one of the casting directors, revealed that Khanvilkar was originally finalised for the role of Pia, and even her payment was discussed. Meanwhile, Joshi was selected for Raju’s role before the casting decisions were changed. However, Hirani thought of established actors playing the roles, since the film had two looks and the actors needed experience. He had plans for playing the lead character, Ranchoddas Chanchad. Hirani tried to rope Khan after the latter exited from the titular role in the director’s debut venture (2003), which was later essayed by . However, Khan refused being a part of the film due to his prior commitments. , then a relative newcomer, also declined the lead role, but agreed to a short cameo as Varun Sahastrabuddhe. was later finalised to play the lead role. and were also finalised for the other two leads – Farhan and Raju. Originally, the roles initially went to and , but the actors rejected the film due to date issues. , who also collaborated with Hirani in the two films, auditioned but could not take up the role. Before R. Madhavan was cast, -based Rajeev Ravindranathan shot for his character for two months before his scenes were removed in favour of casting a “known face”. Ravindranathan later played a college senior. On being questioned about casting older actors to play the titular college students, Hirani said in an interview to that “the actors chosen have that quality which he wanted for the film apart from the body language, mannerisms and innocence portrayed on-screen”. The team approached , with whom Hirani worked in the film series, to play the role of the main antagonist Dr. Viru Sahastrabuddhe, but for various reasons the role went to . The character name was considered to be unique due to the look, lisp and mannerisms portrayed, and also got the nickname “Virus”, as students give names to their professors and principals in their school and college life. For the preparation of his role, Boman wore costumes made of cheap fabric, designed by an old tailor who stitches clothes for in ( ). He wore the shirt with attached, and a hook tie; with the same look, he attended the shoot to prepare for his role. Initially, Boman was hesitant to act in that film and had recommended his co-actor for Viru Sahastrabuddhe, but his refusal prompted Boman to take up the role. This was revealed by Boman after Khan’s death in April 2020. After talks with fell through, played the role of Pia Sahastrabuddhe, Rancho’s (Aamir) love interest and a medical student. While Hirani refused about the original casting for her role in the film in his interview, it has been regarded that was originally considered for the role. In April 2021, an old video of Anushka’s audition for the film went viral on the internet. Anushka, then a newcomer, shared monologues recited by from for the audition process, supposing to be her debut in films, but was ultimately rejected by the producers. She later made her debut in the ‘ production (2008), being cast opposite . , an American actor, was cast for the role Chathur Ramalingam (Silencer)”. , then, a rookie actor, played a small role as Joy Lobo in the film. While speaking about his role, Fazal stated that “he went into depression as the character arc seemed to mirror a tragic real-life incident”. played a cameo appearance as the real Ranchoddas Chanchad. The rehearsals for the film began prior to the shoot, followed by script reading and look tests. After extensive pre-production works, for the film began on 28 July 2008, with scenes featuring the supporting cast being shot first. On 29 August 2008, shooting for the key schedule began with the principal cast members. The first scene was shot in an aircraft with Madhavan, which was the first shooting schedule for this film in . The team left to , for a 20-day schedule with the crew and cast comprising Khan and Kapoor. The climax was being shot at the lake in Ladakh. The team took a break following Aamir Khan’s activities in the promotions and post-production works of (2008). In December 2008, the entire cast and crew, including Khan, Madhavan, Joshi and Hirani, headed to campus which served as Imperial College of Engineering. To prepare for the roles, the crew members stayed at the institution’s dormitory blocks and at the college hostel. Though Khan saw the pictures of the location, he decided to see the location for real and wanted to stay at the hostel, in order to get through the role. Khan regularly met the students during the morning and evenings and shared the experiences of studies and way of life. Apart from that, the team eventually mingled with the students while Khan also involved in many indoor and outdoor games. While shooting for the film, the team made extra precautions with none of the shooting process might affect the routine class sessions. It was the first film to be shot at the Group, and the university granted an academic pay-off for itself. After shooting being completed the makers will film a documentary on the institution. Few parts in were doubled as New Delhi for the film. The entire shooting process was completed within February 2009. The entire film was shot in reverse, with the present-day scenes being shot first and the college scenes were shot later. was the cinematographer for , after collaborating with Hirani for (2006). He used for shooting the film, which consisted of and Master Prime Lenses, with the film had a distributed aspect ratio of . Rajkumar Hirani also undertook supervision of editing the film. For the scene where the leads get drunk and break in Virus’ house, Aamir suggested that the actors might get drunk in reality so as to make it look convincing, but, however, the actors went on numerous retakes, which even led the stock of film roll being exhausted. The actors continued to do retakes, until the new rolls have been bought, so as to keep them busy. The pregnancy scene was initially supposed to be placed in Hirani’s debut film (2003), but as he felt that the placement was irrelevant in the film, the team decided against doing so, and then was used in this film. The hospital scenes were shot at ( ). The film uses real inventions, with brains behind these innovations include Remya Jose, a student from , who created the pedal operated washing-machine; Mohammad Idris, a barber from Hasanpur Kalan in district in , who invented a bicycle-powered horse clipper; and Jahangir Painter, a painter from Maharashtra, who made the scooter-powered flour mill. The character Phunsuk Wangdu drew inspiration from inventor , a mechanical engineering graduate from the . The film’s soundtrack is composed by with lyrics penned by . It marked Moitra’s second consecutive collaboration with after (2006), whose music album was successful. Besides composing the songs, Moitra also composed the film score with Sanjay Wandrekar and Atul Raninga. The album was created with the inspiration of Moitra’s college days, with the songs been written in consideration on the mindset of youngsters in India. The album features five original compositions. Two tracks from the album were remixed, despite Moitra not liking the trend of remixing film songs. rendered five out of seven tracks from the album. Other singers performing vocals to the songs are , , , the lyricist Kirkire and composer Moitra themselves, recording for the soundtrack. One of the tracks “Give Me Some Sunshine” was sung by one of the lead actors, , in his maiden attempt in playback singing. The music album was released online (instead of a launch event), by the film’s official website on 27 November 2009, with a video chat featuring the cast and crew members. purchased the music rights of the film at an amount of (US$2.48 million). The album received positive reviews from critics, with praise directed towards Moitra’s composition and the quality of the album. In addition, the soundtrack became the highest-selling Bollywood soundtrack of 2009, according to the trade website , despite the sales of conventional music CDs being declined. Due to the internet boom, it became the “most downloaded Bollywood music album of the year”. “Aal Izz Well” was listed as one of the “Top 10 Bollywood Songs of 2009” and became a sensation among the youngsters. The soundtrack further fetched a number of accolades is considered as one of Moitra’s best albums, along with (2005) and (2006). released on 25 December 2009 over 1550 prints and 1760 screens in India, which was considered to a “wide domestic release for a Bollywood film” at that time, according to trade analysts. Major allotted more than 95% of screens for the film, prior to the release. It also had a wide-overseas release with about 344 prints in 415 screens. However, and reported that the film had got about 342–366 screens. The film’s wide-release in about 32 countries was noted by trade analysts, who wondered whether it would slow down the business of ‘s (2009), which was breaking box-office records. Producer Vinod Chopra said that a multiplex in Australia reduced the shows for , so that it could play . Following its domestic success, was screened in East Asian markets. It was released in Taiwan on 17 December 2010, followed by Hong Kong on 1 September 2011 and mainland China on 15 December 2011. In South Korea, it was released on 29 December 2011. Along with the original Hindi version, a –dubbed version was also released, with voicing Pia, and voicing Rancho. In January 2013, the film was distributed by Apex Entertainment and CJ Entertainment to release the film in the Korean markets and was released on 25 January 2013. Following its success in other , Japanese distributor announced plans to release the film in Japan. It was released there in June 2013, under the Japanese title . In November 2009, Aamir Khan invited hundreds of people to watch the first half of the film exclusively in a basis of . , thereby being the first film in to use this clause, which was prevalent in ; the lead actor asked people to share the opinions about the film. The premiere show for the film was held in Mumbai on 23 December 2009. Along with the film’s cast and crew, the event saw the presence of , , , , and among many others and other named celebrities, including Hirani’s earlier collaborators such as , , and . who had earlier confirmed his presence at the premiere ultimately did not turn up in the end. The special premiere in and were held on 24 December, prior to the Indian release. On 30 January 2010, a special screening of the film was conducted to the veteran actor . He constantly followed the news of the film and wanted to watch it in a theatre, but due to his health condition, he could not get out of his home. Later, Chopra and Hirani expressed Dilip’s wish and agreed to conduct a private screening for the actor. Chopra said that he “really moved after seeing the film and felt nostalgic”. Later, he urged to discuss about the film and its making with Chopra and Hirani at the former’s apartment in Bandra, with the discussion went on for two hours. On 19 May 2010, the film was screened at the in , with Rajkumar Hirani and the film’s team attending the screening. The members of the , came in touch with the producer regarding the screening of the film, following its influence in youngsters about the system. More than 700 invitees, including non-Indians, turned up for the screening, despite the hall had capacity for about 600-650 people. A two-hour long post-screening session was conducted to the attendees to focus on “how the film has impacted mindsets”. The film was screened at the in March 2010, to bridging the cultural gap between India and Australia, following the . It may also help Bollywood markets to screen their film in Australia. The film was screened at the Aruba International Film Festival held on 10 June 2010. At the Indian Film Festival of London, held during 25–29 August 2010, the film was screened along with Chopra’s other five films — (1978); (1989); (1993) and (2007), while further honouring an award for Chopra. A charity screening of the film was also held with the proceedings being contributed to . At the inauguration of film festival, to honour the director-producer, along with the director’s other films, , and the , were screened at the festival on 30 March 2012. became one of the few Indian films screened at the inaugural Indian Film Festival held in ( ) in December 2015. The film was further screened at the inaugural Himalayan Film Festival held during 24–28 September 2021 in . Aamir Khan used innovative marketing strategies for the promotions of the films, in order to gain wide exposure among audience. Anil Arjun, the CEO of which produced and distributed the film had stated that, a 40-member team was put in place to market the film four months prior to the release. He said that “the campaign was made such a way that it appeals to all category of viewers — people who are going to multiplexes in metros and single screens in small towns”. The film was shown to all stakeholders and the company employees prior to the release, and a 360-degree marketing campaign was made after the release, which covered digital, outdoor, brand partnerships, public relations and merchandise. The “butt chairs” used by the actors in the film, were placed at leading multiplex chains for public viewing. The makers teamed up with .com for digital promotions, with firstly the official website titled was launched and the lead cast came with to the fans. The website designed keeping in mind the college atmosphere and few special added features. The team later interacted with fans through video conference during the online music launch. A two-promotional tour was conducted by Khan, where he would travel across India. On the website, an called “Track Aamir” was launched, to track the whereabouts of the actor during this tour. The site had over 600,000 unique visitors within two weeks. During this tour, Aamir Khan invited 24 friends personally to attend the premiere held in Mumbai, prior to the release of the film. Prior to the release promos for the film was unveiled in an event attended by the lead actors and the crew associated in the film, and press conferences streamed in seven countries. The online promos, trailer, video songs and interviews were released in . started a campaign based on the song “All Is Well” and promoted it in television channels, radio stations and hoardings featuring the lead actors of the film. The makers started marketing alliances with , to launch their exclusive apparel and accessories collection. The special T-shirts with Khan’s scribblings as designs imprinted on it, was available in 45 Pantaloons stores, which were priced . The collection also included replicas of T-shirts, garments and jewellery used by the leads in the film. As a part of promotions in Facebook, the handle called “Pucca Idiot” was launched prior to the release, which generated 10,000 followers within 24 hours. In , the film’s marketing team painted on washrooms, with the slogan “You are an idiot”. Another promotional event titled “Sabse Big Idiot” was held, with the leads being present at , asking viewers to show their idiocy. As a part of outdoor promotions, carried by Primesite Marketing Agency, innovations in hoardings, bus shelters, bus backs, platform signages and mobile vans attracted audiences. Stickers with the film’s logo was pasted in 10,000 auto rickshaws that moved in cities. Trade analysts believed that the unique promotional activity helped in the massive success of the box-office breaking several records, and also creating a nationwide impact. At the Brand Derby summit, held at the hotel in on 16 July 2010, the film topped the 2009 Brand Derby, due to the unique promotions of the film. In addition to encourage people watching the film in theatres, Reliance MediaWorks’ marketing team managed to destroy more than 2.1 million illegal downloads. The team had its core-group working in India, United States and United Kingdom, tracked and destroyed pirated versions of the film in physical and online formats, and also issued trade notices, warning letters specific to prospective infringing sites and outlets across the overseas sectors. On 26 December 2009, a day after the film’s release, the social service branch conducted a raid near station and over 2500 and , with 69 DVDs of this film, along with other films and , were seized. In New Delhi, the sales of pirated DVDs of the film were stopped after a subsidiary company of Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (R-ADAG), levied a complaint to the officials to take actions against movie piracy. After the raid conducted by the police in several locations across Mumbai, former officer , said that “We execute everything keeping the system in mind. We have the support of the local police so there is no question of going against the system. Piracy always existed in some form or the other. But we are getting the facts and figures only now as there are industry body who are working together to bring this menace in the forefront. To curb piracy in the long run we will have to constantly work towards means and ways to fight it.” The television rights of the film were purchased by for (US$4.54 million), which was the highest bid during that time. The film made its television debut on 25 July 2010, with promotions for the television premiere cost (US$4,811.25) and had attracted 12 popular sponsors to market the film. It drew an audience of 39 million viewers in India, and had attracted a TVR of 13.1 at the metro cities , and and an overall TVR of 10.1 domestically. The cumulative reach of the film was uplifted to 30.5%. It also helped the broadcaster, to the third position among the general entertainment channels during that month. On 27 August 2010, launched the standard DVD and editions of the film through . It was coincided at an event held during at , with the presence of the cast and crew members and was broadcast live on and . Later, on 1 October 2010, Reliance Big Home Video launched the premium version of the VCD and DVD, that included a 24-page sticker book and special “idioticomic” book, priced at . It eventually sold 75,000–80,000 copies upon its launch, thereby generating a revenue of 30–40 million (US$400,000–530,000). A month later, the special disc edition was launched on 5 November 2010. In order to curb piracy, producer Chopra and Hirani stated that the film will be released and downloaded legally through on 25 March 2010, twelve weeks after its theatrical release. It was attempted for the people who cannot afford to go to multiplexes or single screens, thereby 3 Idiots becoming the first Indian film to have a legal release on YouTube. However, the film did not release as planned on that day due to copyright issues. Officially, it was released on YouTube in May 2012, but its access has since been restricted. However, it has been made available for online streaming on multiple platforms such as , and . received widespread critical acclaim upon release from both domestic and international critics, with praise directed towards its direction, themes, humour, story, screenplay, soundtrack and performances of the cast. Subhash K. Jha stated: “It’s not that is a flawless work of art. But it is a vital, inspiring, and life-revising work of contemporary art with some heart imbued into every part. In a country where students are driven to suicide by their impossible curriculum, provides hope. Maybe cinema can’t save lives. But cinema, sure as hell, can make you feel life is worth living. does just that, and much more. The director takes the definition of entertainment into directions of social comment”. of gave it four and a half stars and suggests that, “The film is a laugh riot, despite being high on fundas […] Hirani carries forward his simplistic ‘humanism alone works’ philosophy of the series in too, making it a warm and vivacious signature tune to 2009. The second half of the film does falter in parts, especially the childbirth sequence, but it doesn’t take long for the film to jump back on track.” Mayank Shekhar of the gave the film three and a half out of five stars and comments that “this is the sort of movie you’ll take home with a smile and a song on your lips.” of gave four and a half out of five stars and states: “On the whole, easily ranks amongst Aamir, Rajkumar Hirani and Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s finest films. Do yourself and your family a favour: Watch It’s emotional, it’s entertaining, it’s enlightening. The film has tremendous youth appeal and feel-good factor to work in a big way.” Kaveree Bamzai of gave five stars and argues that “it’s a lovely story, of a man from nowhere who wanted to learn, told like a fairy tale, with the secret heart carrying its coded message of setting all of us free.” Sonia Chopra of gave the film 3 stars and said “Though a bit too calculated and designed, 3 Idiots is still an ok option for the significant message, interesting cast and scattered breezy moments.” of gave the film three out of five stars and states: “Going home after watching I felt like I’d just been to my favorite restaurant only to be a tad underwhelmed by their signature dish. It was a satisfying meal, don’t get me wrong, but not the best meal I’d been expecting.” Shubhra Gupta from also gave it 3 stars, stating ” does not do as much for me. The emotional truth that shone through both the movies doesn’t come through strongly enough.” Raja Sen of gave the film two out of five stars and states: “Rajkumar Hirani’s one of the directors of the decade, a man with immense talent and a knack for storytelling. On his debut, he hit a . With his second, he hit a triple century. This time, he fishes outside the off stump, tries to play shots borrowed from other batters, and hits and misses to provide a patchy, 32*-type innings. It’s okay, boss, . Even has an off day, and we still have great hope.” On the website , of 15 critics’ reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.3/10. Derek Elley of wrote that ” takes a while to lay out its game plan but pays off emotionally in its second half.” Robert Abele of wrote that there’s an “unavoidable (symbolised by Rancho’s meditative mantra ‘All is well’) and a performance charm that makes this one of the more naturally gregarious Bollywood imports.” Louis Proyect described it as a “fabulous achievement across the board. A typical Bollywood confection but also a social commentary on a dysfunctional engineering school system that pressures huge numbers of students into suicide.” The film was praised by critics in East Asia and Southeast Asia. wrote that the film “wraps a heavy message in light comedy. It is satire at its best, a powerful indictment of India’s education system in which students cram for exams while stifling their dreams.” Chaerim Oh of wrote that “the film never harshly denounces the educational system but instead uncovers disturbing truths and unseen consequences of tremendous pressure upon students” and that “if you don’t end up crying like I did (or won’t admit that you did), you’ll still enjoy the movie.” In Japan, Yuri Wakabayashi of also gave the film a positive review. The film was made at the budget of (US$11.36 million), while estimated the budget to be around 35–45 crore (US$4.6–6.0 million). In August 2009, acquired the worldwide distribution rights of the film, along with the -starrer (2010) for (US$28.92 million). Individually, the worldwide theatrical rights were sold for about (US$13.43 million). After its theatrical run, the producers of the film negotiated deals with leading satellite television channels, with acquiring the film for (US$4.54 million), a record during that period. The music rights were sold to (T-Series) for (US$2.48 million). Excluding the print and advertisement costs, the film made a business (US$20.45 million), even before the theatrical release. The makers entered into tussles with the distributors as Khan insisted to sell the film’s distribution rights at a tune of (US$20.66 million); the distribution rights of the actor’s previous film (2008) was sold for (US$21.38 million). Following the financial turmoil, which affected the footfalls and earnings in multiplexes and single-screens, the stakeholders were not ready to buy the film for a huge amount, and reduce the price for distribution. After much deliberations, the theatrical rights were being sold at a tune of 40–45 crore (US$5.3–6.0 million). had also levied the deal to (US$4.13 million) for release. , eventually topped online polls of the “most-awaited film of the year”, with the extensive marketing campaign and pre-release contributed to it. The advance bookings of the film eventually topped to 40–45%, with major multiplexes showing advance bookings rates uplifted to more than 90% in the opening day. Amitabh Vardhan, CEO of and Alok Tandon of , stated that “looking at the pre-release hype, the film will have the best openings of a movie this year in terms of theatrical revenues”, while trade analyst stated that “it could be easily one of the biggest blockbusters of the year”. The film’s worldwide lifetime gross was 460 (US$90 million), making it the at the time. The fil</p>