The Punjabi film Sardaarji 3 which did not get an India release as it had a Pakistani artist as a female lead has emerged a BLOCKBUSTER Overseas and could will go on to be among the top 3 Punjabi films of all time and going by the weekday holds it would be no surprise if the film goes on to be the biggest.

The biggest Punjabi film overseas till date is Jatt & Juliet 3 which has collected around $7.25 million and here Sardaarji collected around $2.1 million in its first weekend though mainly driven by Pakistan where the controversy and Pakistani female lead helped but the traditional Punjabi film markets of UK, Canada and Australia were good but not great. A Pakistan release happens for certain Punjabi films which are made in UK through a UK company and are not seen as a film from India in Pakistan as Indian films are not allowed to release. 

This all changed on Monday as these markets saw superb holds with Canada doing better than Friday, Australia being similar and United Kingdom showing a minor drop. The Canada number is looking extraordinary on Tuesday and the film will be standing at around $3 million in five days and no doubt is now set for a strong run.

The film had to a forfeit its India release due to the female lead being Pakistani though the film was made before the conflict with Pakistan in May. There was a lot of NOISE made by various film authorities in Mumbai but they did not go after the film or makers but the main lead Diljit Dosanjh obviously as going after the film would not make much NOISE. So a matter which was not even a matter was bought to the forefront because some people wanted attention. This NOISE which tends to come around for many films nowadays as films and artistes are soft targets.

The film has cost around 35 crore to produce and release which is a huge budget for a Punjabi film and recovery looked a tough road without an India release but now with a 20 crore share to come from overseas on a worst case scenario it should recover costs or be very close to recovery with the revenue from Satellite, digital and music and a UK rebate to come.    

If the film had not done well then the risk of overseas release only would have been a negative due to the controversy that it racked up but god has been kind and the film has come up trumps and for the makers it will be like getting out of jail.