Bollywood star Salman Khan, on Thursday, said films entering the ‘Rs 100 crore club’ is now a thing of the past and going forward movies need to aim for the “benchmark” of Rs 1,000 crore to succeed at the box office.The 57-year-old star was speaking at the trailer launch event of the upcoming Punjabi film Maujaan Hi Maujaan, starring Gippy Grewal.”This Rs 100 crore mark is going to be the rock bottom now. Everything is going to be Rs 400-600 crore plus now for the Punjabi industry, Hindi industry, every industry. Even Marathi films are doing those numbers right now.
“Basically, people are going to the theatres once again to watch movies. I think Rs 100 crore is not going to be a very big deal. I think the benchmark should be Rs 1,000 crore for a film right now,” Salman Khan told reporters in Mumbai.
Maujaan Hi Maujaan, a slice-of-life family entertainer, is directed by Smeep Kang. Grewal, who launched the trailer of his last release Carry On Jatta 3 with Aamir Khan in Mumbai, said he is happy to witness the commercial success of Punjabi films in recent times.
“When our films used to do a business of Rs 10-15 crore, we would be surprised. Last time when we were on stage, people asked if our film (‘Carry On Jatta 3’) could do Rs 100 crore. We didn’t know what to say then. But by God’s grace, everything went well. Now, if Salman sir is saying (the business will be big for Maujaan Hi Maujaan), then something huge will happen,” the Punjabi cinema star added.
To this Khan quipped, “Mere pe mat jaana bhai, picture pe jaana kyunki mere khud ke predictions meri films pe nahin chal rahe. (Don’t listen to what I say, judge the film for what it is because my predictions don’t seem to be working for my own films.)” Produced by Amardeep Grewal under East Sunshine Production, “Maujaan Hi Maujaan” arrives in cinemas on October 20.