On its first day, ‘Ek Tha Tiger’ apparently recovered about 50% of its production cost and all the shows of this Salman-Katrina starrer in the Mumbai circle are supposedly fully booked for the first week

Call him by any name, but Salman Khan once again proved that when it comes to pulling crowds to the theatres and raking in the moolah, he is the undisputed star in Bollywood. Well, Salman’s latest film ‘Ek Tha Tiger' reportedly collected Rs33 crore on its first day of release on 15th August. The first day collections of Aamir Khan’s ‘3 idiots’ was Rs24 crore and the Hritik Roshan starrer ‘Angeepath’ garnered Rs23 crore on its first day.

Salman’s high-adrenalin flicks or super-duper hits before ‘Ek Tha Tiger’ were ‘Wanted’, ‘Dabangg' and ‘Bodyguard’. ‘Ek Tha Tiger’, shot in five different countries, cost about Rs75 crore to its producer Yash Raj Films. But looking at the first-day collection and upcoming holidays of Pateti and Eid along with the extended weekend, Yash Raj may recover its full cost in first week itself.

Even though Salman is playing a spy in the film, Kabir Khan, the director of ‘Ek Tha Tiger’ says the role is nothing like that of James Bond. “Salman is playing a spy but the attempt is not to make him a James Bond here. I think when filmmakers try to do that, they end up taking the charm from telling a real story,” he told PTI.

“I strongly feel that James Bond can’t work in our country. Heroes in our country are anyway no less than James Bond. He does impossible things with ease. I always wanted to make a film with a big star, especially with a story like ‘Ek Tha Tiger’ but then wanted to keep it real,” said Kabir.

Salman however feels that doing a romantic film is much easier than action movie. In an interview to PTI, he said, “There is a lot of pain and difficulty that an actor faces while doing action scenes. Like doing action in worst conditions—in very hot or cold weather, waking up at wrong hours, fighting in dirty places, sometimes in water, sometimes in the sun.”

“Do people really fight on roofs? Why can’t they give us a good mattress to fall on? But no, they will always make you fall on a hard surface,” he added.

The 46-year-old actor is likely to feature in Sooraj Barjatya’s next film.

However, co-actress and former girlfriend Katrina Kaif thinks the ‘Dabangg’ Khan soon gets bored of doing ‘romantic’ stuff. “Right now, the audience likes the action-romantic genre and it works well for him. Beyond a point I don't think Salman can handle the romantic scenes. He gets very ‘pakaoed’ (bored) by it,” Katrina said.

Notably, Salman was suffering from Trigeminal Neuralgia, a nerve disorder causing intense pain in the face, and he had gone to US for a surgery in August last year. Soon after he started shooting for Yash Raj Films’ ‘Ek Tha Tiger’.

Asked whether he was in two minds about doing action scenes for the film after he was diagnosed with the eye ailment, Salman said, “I am ‘Tiger’, I don’t have an excuse.”

“I have been beaten up by school teachers, spanked and scolded by my parents in my childhood and growing up days, and all these things have been used in this film. I think one has to be physically fit to do all this,” he said.

“A film like this takes a toll because you are running from morning to evening; you are falling and getting hurt in cold weather. Sometimes, a scene needs 12 retakes and rehearsals in a day,” he said.

Directed by Kabir Khan and produced by Aditya Chopra, Yash Raj Films’ romantic-thriller ‘Ek Tha Tiger’, is a story about an agent name Tiger. According to Yash Raj Films, this is a film about a story that became a legend, a story that is spoken about only in hushed whispers… a story that shook the very foundation of a dark world of intelligence and espionage… where there are shadows without faces. "And where Governments fight shadow battles through soldiers of the unknown… But like all reports that come out of this uncertain world… nobody will ever confirm those events… This story is about an agent named Tiger… It may or may not have happened…” the production house added.

The film has already created a buzz with its first teaser trailer getting almost 3 million views online. And according to media reports, all the over 1,300 shows of ‘Ek Tha Tiger’ in the Mumbai circle are apparently fully booked. In case you have any plans to watch it in any theatre, be ready to pay a premium.