He may have the penchant to be in constant limelight due to his 'erratic' off screen behaviour but when it comes to his films, Salman Khan continues to draw in the crowds in India as well as abroad.

The protests from several quarters to its screening notwithstanding, Salman's latest film 'Maine Pyar Kyon Kiya' has stormed the UK box office, reiterating his 'huge draw' among the overseas audience following as it does in the close heels of the success in UK of his earlier film 'Mujhse Shaadi Karogi' as well as the good showing of his 'Lucky-No time For Love' and 'Dil Ne Jise Apna Kaha.' '

Maine Pyar Kyon Kiya', which has already fetched 'above average' returns in India despite protests over its screenings in several parts of the country, has figured in the UK top ten releases in two consecutive weekends, following its release on July 15, trade sources said.

The film opened at number seven in the UK top ten, ahead of the Hollywood blockbuster 'Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith', earning 148,298 British pounds (nearly Rs 1.2 crore) in its opening weekend from just 35 screens with a per screen average of 4,237 Pounds (Nearly Rs 3.5 Lakh).

In its second weekend, the film figured at number ten in the top ten, earning 83,177 UK Pounds (nearly Rs 60 lakh) from just34 screens, taking its total earnings to 320,800 UK Pounds (nearly Rs 2.5 Crore) in just first ten days of its release.

Trade analysts say that the fact that 'Maine Pyar Kyon Kiya' is Salman's fourth film in recent months to figure in the UK top ten after David Dhawan's 'Mujhse Shaadi Karogi', Atul Agnihotri's 'Dil Ne Jise Apna Kaha' and 'Sohail Khan's 'Lucky-No Time for Love' proves that his presence in a film is a big draw at the box office.

Infact, both the Salman Starrers 'Maine Pyar Kyon Kiya' and 'Lucky-No Time for Love' have fetched one of the best collections in UK this year for a Bollywood film in the opening weekend.

While 'Maine Pyar Kyon Kiya' earned 148,298 British pounds (nearly Rs 1.2 crore) in its opening weekend from just 35 screens, 'Lucky' earned 122,913 Pounds in its opening weekend from just 29 screens with a per screen average of 4,238 Pounds, which was better than the performance by films like Vipul Shah's 'Waqt - The Race Against Time', Karan Johar's 'Kaal', Yash Chopra's 'Bunty Aur Babli', Vidhu Vinod Chopra's 'Parineeta', Shahrukh Khan's 'Paheli' and 'Dus'.

Infact, 'Maine Pyar Kyon Kiya' is the tenth Bollywood film this year to earn more that 1,00,000 Pounds in its opening weekend.

The last three months have seen a series of Indian films, including 'Lucky', the Big B-starrer 'Waqt', the Abhishek Bachchan Rani Mukherjee-starrer 'Bunty Aur Babli', the Saif Ali Khan-starrer 'Parineeta' and the Shahrukh Khan Rani Mukherjee-starrer 'Paheli' strike gold at the British box office.