Box office: 'Indian 2' rakes in ₹26cr on opening day
Released with high expectations on Friday, Kamal Haasan and S. Shankar's Indian 2 aimed to captivate audiences with a fresh take on the 1996 blockbuster film, Indian. However, despite predictions of an opening surpassing ₹40 crore, the film missed the mark. According to a report by Sacnilk, Indian 2 grossed ₹26 crore on its opening day—proving that sometimes, even the best-laid plans go awry.
'Indian 2' falls short of Haasan's previous film 'Vikram'
According to early reports, Indian 2 garnered an estimated net collection of ₹26 crore across all languages on its first day. The Tamil version led the way with over ₹16 crore, while the Hindi version had a disappointing start, earning just over ₹1 crore. Surprisingly, the Telugu version performed notably well with over ₹7 crore. However, with poor word-of-mouth and negative reviews, the film is expected to see a decline on Saturday, missing out on the full weekend advantage.
Occupancy rates and international earnings
The portal reported that Indian 2 had an overall occupancy of 55% for the Tamil version, with most interest coming from night shows. Chennai reported a higher occupancy of 68%. The Hindi version had a negligible occupancy of 11%, while the Telugu version fared better with a reported occupancy of 58%. Coming to international markets, Indian 2 earned $1M in North America on its opening day.
'Indian 2' underperforms compared to Haasan's other films
The performance of Indian 2 did not match up to Haasan's last two films, with Kalki 2898 AD making a whopping ₹95 crore at the box office and Vikram earning ₹66 crore on its opening day. Despite being the biggest opening for a Tamil film at the Indian box office this year, it fell short of expectations, which predicted an opening of around ₹35-40 crore. To note, Haasan's other sequel film, Vishwaroopam II—released in 2018—also underperformed compared to its predecessor.
'Indian 2' faces stiff competition from 'Sarfira'
Meanwhile, Indian 2 faces tough competition from Akshay Kumar's Sarfira, which reportedly earned ₹2.40 crore—significantly outperforming Indian 2's ₹1 crore in the Hindi market. Indian 2: Zero Tolerance is a vigilante action thriller with Haasan reprising his role as the corruption-fighting freedom fighter Senapathi. Jointly produced by Lyca Productions and Red Giant Movies, the film also features Siddharth, SJ Suryah, Rakul Preet Singh, Gulshan Grover, Samuthirakani and Nedumudi Venu in the ensemble cast.
