Allu Arjun's Pushpa 2: The Rule expected to cross Rs 230 cr on opening day beating RRR

(From left) Rashmika Mandanna and Allu Arjun in Pushpa 2

As Allu Arjun's Pushpa 2: The Rule hit the theatres on Thursday morning, fans went in droves to watch the action drama while trade had a field day speculating about its position in the league of Indian cinema's biggest openers. So, where does director Sukumar's sequel stand? Right at the top, it seems. As per the collections till Thursday evening, the film had apparently minted Rs 170 crore across languages. Trade analysts are projecting that Pushpa 2's first-day numbers will be upwards of R230 crore in India. With this, it is expected to race past RRR (2022), which was the highest opener to date at Rs 223 crore.

Trade analyst Girish Wankhede says the film is dominating the box office as expected. "The film's Hindi collection will be over R95 crore, and its collections across languages will be upwards of R230 crore. The highest opener has been RRR at R223 crore, but it looks like Pushpa 2 will beat it comfortably. Over and above the advance bookings, walk-ins have been high because of the great word of mouth. By the weekend, it can cross the Rs 200-crore mark in Hindi alone. The film is long at 3 hours 20 minutes, but there is not a dull moment," he says excitedly.

Also starring Fahadh Faasil and Rashmika Mandanna, the sequel to Pushpa: The Rise (2021) is said to have bagged 4,500 screens across the country. Its entertainment quotient aside, the movie is benefitting from several strategic factors such as a solo release, special shows on Wednesday evening in certain states, and the Andhra Pradesh and Telangana governments' approval for ticket price hikes. Even as trade expert Ramesh Bala gives a conservative day-one figure of R200 crore, he is expecting the film to soar. He says, "In Tamil alone, the film will earn close to Rs 40 crore and Telugu will be around R60 crore. The film has got great reviews, and is bound to pick up in the later shows." The film's first-day global collection is pegged at Rs 250-300 crore.

Rs 223 crore
The highest first-day figure so far, earned by RRR