After Aamir Khan's PK, US-based firm Comscore to track box-office collections of Ranbir Kapoor-starrer Sanju

The Sanjay Dutt biopic Sanju , starring Ranbir Kapoor, has created significant buzz in the Hindi film industry and after much anticipation, it has finally hit theatre screens. Directed by Rajkumar Hirani, the film also stars Dia Mirza, Sonam Kapoor, Paresh Rawal, Manisha Koirala, Vicky Kaushal and Anushka Sharma in pivotal roles. The film’s box office collections will be tracked by US-based media measurement company Comscore (formerly known as Rentrak). Sanju will be the second film  to have its revenue collections tracked by this firm, with the first being Aamir Khan’s PK , which released in 2014. [caption id=“attachment_4617111” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] Ranbir Kapoor in and as Sanju. YouTube screengrab[/caption] With speculations in the past related to manipulation of box-office data and different publications reporting varying figures for a movie, this move is a stepping stone towards fulfilling the need for transparency and fair practices in Bollywood. Krrish 3’s net domestic box office collections were believed to be reported incorrectly by a margin of Rs 15-20 crores. While the film’s team denied misreporting box office numbers, there are different tallies for the film’s collections — ranging from Rs 198.65 crore to Rs 244.92 crore,  Livemint  found_._ According to  Caravan , the practice of adjusting numbers is common and creates a false impression of the film being successful, but it can also have a darker purpose of money laundering or tax evasion. Also read — Sanju movie review: Ranbir Kapoor is flawless in Rajkumar Hirani’s Bollywood-ised biopic of Sanjay Dutt In a scenario where there is avid interest in whether or not a film has reached the coveted 100-crore club, the value of the box office data reported by filmmakers is shaky, notes  Film Companion . On the other hand, studios in Hollywood have access to each other’s data, which helps them in assessing how their competitors fared and also learn from their mistakes. So far, the box office data has been based on the information reported by distributors and producers alone, but Comscore will source it directly from theatres, in real-time. Apart from multiplexes, the firm will also be tracking independent as well a single screen theatres across the country. Bollywood trade analyst Taran Adarsh announced the development on Twitter.

Sanju opened on 4,000 screens across the country, beating the screen count of Salman Khan’s Race 3 , reported Adarsh.