Dunki' Shah Rukh Khans Third Biggest Film Lands on Netflix

Publish date: 2024-10-10

The Big Picture

A little less than two months after its theatrical release, the Indian comedy-drama Dunki has landed on Netflix. Directed by hit-maker Rajkumar Hirani, Dunki completed a hat-trick of blockbusters for the Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan in the year 2023. SRK, as he is popularly known by his fans, had spent nearly five years out of action before rebounding in a major way last year, delivering three of his biggest-ever hits back-to-back.

Dunki debuted in December after SRK had already enjoyed the record-breaking success of his action-thrillers Pathaan and Jawan. Both films earned over $130 million each globally, and expectations for Dunki — especially considering the involvement of Hirani — were exceptionally high. And while the movie did very well at the box office — it’s the third-biggest hit of SRK’s career — it grossed roughly half of both Pathaan and Jawan.

Dunkiconcluded its theatrical run with a little over $55 million worldwide, making it the sixth-biggest Hindi-language film of 2023, and the eighth-biggest Indian film of the year overall. India is divided into several regional film industries that function mostly independently of each other. And unlike Pathaan and Jawan, which proved to be crossover hits within India, Dunki played mainly to the Hindi-speaking audience in the north of the country, and, of course, diaspora crowds across the globe.

'Dunki' Pushed SRK's Annual Box Office to $325 Million Globally

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It also did relatively well internationally, grossing $25 million in overseas markets, of which $8.6 million came from North America. But while Pathaan and Jawan were mostly acclaimed, Dunki opened to mixed reviews. The film currently sits at a “rotten” 53% score on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, as compared to Pathaan’s 89% score and Jawan’s 88% approval rating.

SRK announced that Dunki would be joining Jawan on Netflix — Pathaan went to Prime Video — with a special video in which he recreated a scene from the film. Set against the backdrop of illegal immigration, Dunki follows the globe-trotting adventures of a group of friends, who, after being denied visas to the United Kingdom for mostly racist reasons, decide to take the illegal route out of the country. The movie examines themes of patriotism, identity, and belonging. The title “Dunki” is a play on the word “donkey” — itself a reference to the “donkey route” — spoken as if with a Punjabi accent. Dunki also features Taapsee Pannu, Boman Irani, and Vicky Kaushal in supporting roles.

SRK is yet to announce a new film after his hat-trick of 2023 hits, but he recently put his desire to play a Bond villain into the universe. You can watch the Dunki Netflix announcement video here, and stay tuned to Collider for more updates.

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