Rohit Shetty's directorial film, "Chennai Express" has created its first box office record after beating Aamir Khan's "3 Idiots" in paid previews.

Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone starrer earned a whopping ₹6.75 crore in paid previews on Thursday from Indian markets. The most-anticipated film of the year, which was released on Friday, has smashed the records of Aamir Khan starrer "3 Idiots" by a big margin.

 The 2009 film, "3 Idiots" directed by Rajkumar Hirani minted ₹2.7 crore in its paid previews, while "Chennai Express" managed to fetch ₹6.75 crore.

"ChennaiExpress packs a solid punch in paid previews, collects 6.75 cr nett [India]. Highest ever. Crosses #3Idiots previews: 2.7 cr," trade analyst Taran Adarsh tweeted.

At international market too, the film has taken box office by storm. The action comedy film has received a mind-blowing start in overseas market.

"Chennai Express" has raked in a whopping ₹1.34 crore from Thursday's preview from the UK market, ₹21.29 lakh from Australia, ₹3.92 lakh from New Zealand, ₹45.97 lakh from Singapore and approximately ₹90.87 lakh from UAE-GCC market.

"ChennaiExpress sets a new record in UK. Thu night previews: £ 142,220. Biggest ever. Crosses #MNIK, #KANK, #3Idiots, #EkThaTiger. Australia A$ 38,315 ... New Zealand NZ$ 8,058 ... Superb!" Adarsh said.

"ChennaiExpress takes Singapore by storm. Collects $ 95,359 on Thursday. 2 screens yet to report. Highest opening day for a Hindi film. In UAE-GCC it collects $ 450,000 on Thu. 25 screens yet to report. Estimated to cross $ 550,000. Highest ever!" he added.

The combined total revenue from paid previews (domestic + overseas) stands at ₹9.71 crore, which most of the films released this year have not even raked in that much amount on the opening day.