Welcome Back collected 5.05 crore on Wednesday to bring its overall collections so far to 69.72 crore. Though there has been a drop in collections during last couple of days, the superb collections over the weekend mean the film would still come up with a healthy score at the close of Week One. The film is looking at a 74 crore total before it steps into the second weekend, and in the process surpass the first week total of Brothers [72.6 crore], ABCD 2 [72 crore] and Tanu Weds Manu Returns [70 crore].
What is all the more notable about these collections is the fact that the lifetime total of Welcome, which released in 2007, would be surpassed by tomorrow morning itself, i.e. the beginning of the eight day. While the film had collected 75 crore in its entire lifetime, Welcome Back would go past that milestone by the time afternoon shows commence. Of course inflation is a consideration as well but since in the record books it is the present day nett total which is considered, Firoz Nadiadwallah and Eros’ Welcome Back would be seen as a bigger grosser in years to come.
The film will also almost come close to the record that was set by Race 2, which had netted 76.1 crore in its first week. For Anil Kapoor and John Abraham, Welcome Back would be the second highest Week One scorer, though it has to be seen how much further does it go ahead of the Abbas Mastan affair that had netted 100.45 crore as its lifetime total.
Joginder Tuteja tweets @tutejajoginder