Indian 2 box office collection Day 1: Kamal Haasan’s critically panned sequel falls short of Vikram’s opening, earns Rs 26 crore in India

‘Ulaganayagan’ Kamal Haasan’s latest film, the long-delayed Indian 2, was finally released in theatres across India on Friday. While the film had a strong debut at the box office, especially in the state of Tamil Nadu, it attracted negative reception from critics and audiences, which might be a cause for concern. According to industry tracker Sacnilk, Indian 2 made Rs 26 crore nett across India on day one of release, of which Rs 17 crore came from the Tamil version, Rs 1.1 crore came from the Hindi version, and Rs 7.9 crore came from the Telugu version.

Indian 2’s Rs 26 crore debut falls marginally short of the Rs 28 crore that Kamal Haasan’s last film, the blockbuster Vikram, netted on its opening day in 2022. But unlike Indian 2, Vikram received positive reviews, and went on to become the star’s top-grossing film with a lifetime global collection of over Rs 430 crore worldwide. Before that, Kamal Haasan had last starred in the 2018 film Vishwaroopam II, which significantly underperformed at the box office.

Also read – Indian 2 movie review: Outmoded and outdated, Kamal Haasan-starrer is a three-hour time suck

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Indian 2 is a sequel to director Shankar‘s classic 1996 film Indian, which also starred Urmila Matondkar and Manisha Koirala. A vigilante action movie in which Kamal Haasan played the now-iconic character Senapathy, Indian was acclaimed. He reprises his role in the sequel, which had a difficult production during which some crew members also lost their lives. The movie has been unanimously panned, casting a shadow over the upcoming Indian 3.

According to Sacnilk, Indian 2 had an overall 55% occupancy for the Tamil version, with the majority of interest coming from the night shows. Chennai reported 68% occupancy. Hindi occupancy was negligible at 11%, with Mumbai and Delhi-NCR reporting occupancies of 12.5% and 8%, respectively. The film’s Telugu version fared better, reporting 58% occupancy. Indian 2 has been released as Hindustani 2 in Hindi and as Bharateeyudu 2 in Telugu. Kamal Haasan was recently seen in the film Kalki 2898 AD, which has made over Rs 900 crore globally. He also has Thug Life in the pipeline.