Salaar box office collection day 1 early report: Prabhas set to deliver biggest opening of 2023, over Rs 175 crore global gross on the cards

Also read – Dunki box office collection Day 1: Shah Rukh Khan-starrer makes less than Adipurush and Sanju on opening day, pales in comparison to Jawan and Pathaan

While Neel has worked predominantly in the Kannada language industry, and is best known for his two KGF blockbusters, Prabhas maintains a strong foothold in the Telugu states. Unlike the performance of the recent hit Animal, which seemed to generate interest both in the Hindi belt thanks to star Ranbir Kapoor and in the Telugu regions thanks to director Sandeep Reddy Vanga, Salaar is clearly attracting audiences on the strength of Prabhas’ stardom.

Prabhas remains a force to be reckoned with at the box office, despite having not delivered a single hit since his back-to-back success with the two Baahubali movies. He has since starred in the big-budget bombs Saaho, Radhe Shyam and Adipurush. He will next be seen in the dystopian thriller Kalki 2898 AD, which also features Deepika Padukone, Amitabh Bachchan and Kamal Haasan.

Meanwhile, Shah Rukh Khan’s Dunki is going to have to battle somewhat lukewarm reviews and underwhelming box office returns if it wants to make an impact in the long run. The movie registered Shah Rukh’s lowest opening of the year, behind Jawan and Pathaan, and fell short of even director Rajkumar Hirani’s Sanju.