Aamir Khan film PK on course for highest ever Bollywood opening in US

Indian satire about an alien who questions religious beliefs in the subcontinent has opened in 10th place at the US box office

Aamir Khan

A controversial Indian fish-out-of-water comedy about a goggle-eyed alien who arrives on Earth with a mission to study humanity is on course to score the biggest Bollywood debut of all time at the US box office, reports Deadline.

PK, starring Aamir Khan as an extra terrestrial who questions the subcontinent’s myriad religious creeds, opened in 10th place in north America with a haul of $3.46m (£2.21m) at the weekend, according to early estimates. It is the third Bollywood film to make the top 10 in recent years, following Dhoom 3 and Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani in 2013.

Dhoom 3, which also starred Khan, opened with $3.44m at the US box office last December, meaning it could hold on to the record if PK slips back by just $20,000 at the final count. PK is reportedly behind its rival in India after opening with just over 900m rupees ($14.2m) over the weekend. According to bollywoodhungama.com, its opening-day haul of 260.63m rupees was the seventh best of all time in India.

PK also opened in the UK, where results are expected later this week. The film took $22.13m worldwide, according to Deadline.

Director Rajkumar Hirani’s satire has attracted criticism from some religious parties in India. Detractors have condemned scenes in which the titular alien visits Delhi and innocently questions the complex rituals mankind has chosen to connect with God, as well as the commercialisation of religion. In October last year the film was hit with a legal complaint after onlookers near the shoot in the Chandni Chowk area of central Delhi objected to a reported dream sequence in which a man dressed as the Hindu deity Lord Shiva could be seen pulling a rickshaw in which two burqa-clad women were sitting. A mob reportedly gathered and the three actors involved were taken to a nearby police station.

Khan and Hirani were named in the complaint, according to India Today. It is not clear if the scene made it into the final cut, though reviews suggest that the Lord Shiva character remains in the movie.