Dabangg Box Office Flashback: Salman Khan Was Paid Zero Salary, Arbaaz Khan Went In Loss As Budget Increased By 63% But The Risk Paid Off With 183% Returns!
Salman Khan & Sonakshi Sinha's Dabangg was a risky affair for producer Arbaaz Khan after a massive increase in budget. Here's a box office revisit!
Dabangg celeabrates its 14 year anniversary today! Starring Salman Khan and Sonakshi Sinha in the leading roles, the action comedy-drama was the highest-grossing Indian film of 2010. Many wouldn’t know, but producer Arbaaz Khan was at a loss while making the film. Scroll below as we unveil the business side of things today.
The Abhinav Kashyap directorial was initially planned to be made on a budget of 30 crores. However, due to unforeseen circumstances, the cost increased to a whopping 49 crores. Arbaaz Khan had revealed to Bollywood Bubble in 2021, “As a producer whatever was required, we didn’t even think what kind of money we are going to make, we were probably losing money when we were making this film. I mean the market of Salman was probably lesser than what we have spent and what are we going to release the film.”
Dabangg Box Office Collection
Salman Khan starrer opened up to highly favorable reviews. In fact, the pre-release buzz was sky-high, with the trailer receiving massive love and the jukebox making it to every single playlist across the country. It earned a whopping 139 crores in its lifetime.
Dabangg made on a budget of 49 crores, made returns of 90 crores after the film turned a success. When converted into profit percentage, this comes to around 184% returns. Amazing, isn’t it? The risk truly paid off for Arbaaz Khan and the team.
Salman Khan did not charge any salary initially
It is also to be noted that Salman Khan wasn’t even paid his market price since his brother Arbaaz Khan was in losses ahead of the release. Only after the action comedy yielded profits, the leading superstar was paid his salary for the film.
Sonakshi Sinha asked for an unusual paycheck!
As most know, Sonakshi Sinha made her Bollywood debut with Dabangg. Many wouldn’t know, but the actress demanded a Blackberry phone when asked for her remuneration for the movie.
Dabangg also starred Arbaaz Khan, Sonu Sood, Om Puri, Dimple Kapadia, Vinod Khanna, Anupam Kher, Mahesh Manjrekar and Mahie Gill. Malaika Arora made a special appearance for the song, Munni Badnaam Hui.
Note: Box office numbers are based on estimates and various sources. Numbers have not been independently verified by Koimoi.
