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.