MUMBAI: Superstar Salman Khan's latest release "Dabangg 3", which hit the screens on December 20, has been trimmed by almost nine minutes as the film was critcised for being too long with a duration of over two hours.

The film reportedly has too many songs and was criticised majorly because it served as a hindrance in the narrative.

According to bollywoodhungama.com, the producers of "Dabangg 3" decided to shorten the film by nine minutes from the second day of its release. Theatres were instructed to play the revised version with immediate effect.

A source told the portal: "Out of nine minutes, approximately eight minutes have been removed from the first half. The song ‘Awara', featuring Salman and Saiee Manjrekar, has been edited out. Also, their other song ‘Naina Lade' has been slightly trimmed.

"Moreover, a few comedy scenes didn't elicit the desired laughs from the moviegoers. Those too have been chucked out from the revised version."

The major issue with the third instalment of the "Dabangg" franchise is that the tracks are not that memorable. Moreover, there are four romantic numbers in the film, two in each half with both the heroines.

The song featuring Sonakshi Sinha, who plays the role of Rajjo in the franchise, has not been axed.

"The viewers majorly had issues with the first half being too long. So most of the trimming was done in the pre-interval sequence. As for the second half, a few scenes have been shortened," the source said.

"Dabangg 3" collected Rs 24.5 crore at the box-office on its first day of release on Friday and added Rs 24.75 crore on Saturday.

The source added: "The film has been loved for Salman Khan's performance, it's action, power packed climax and emotional quotient. All of them have been retained. The makers now hope that this new and shorter version will create a better impact on the viewers."