The most anticipated film of 2023, Gadar 2, starring Sunny Deol and Ameesha Patel, hit the theatres yesterday, August 11, 2023.
The film is a sequel to their 2001 smash hit Gadar, which created a sensation among the audience. The fans are enjoying the reunion of the pair on the silver screen, and the film is expected to perform exceptionally well at the box office, despite the mixed reviews from the critics.
Sunny Deol, who made his debut as a lead actor in Betaab 40 years ago, is delivering the biggest hit of his career at the age of 65.
Gadar 2 earned Rs 40 crore on its first day in theatres, according to industry tracker Sacnilk.
The film had an overall occupancy of more than 60% on day one, while night shows recorded a staggering 86% occupancy.
This is a higher occupancy than Shah Rukh Khan’s Pathaan on its opening day, but Pathaan still holds the record for the highest Bollywood debut of all time, at Rs 55 crore. Gadar 2, however, surpassed Prabhas’ mega-budget mythological epic Adipurush, which opened with Rs 32 crore.
Interestingly, Adipurush was released on Netflix and Prime Video on Friday, posing an unexpected challenge to Gadar 2, which is already competing with Akshay Kumar-starrer OMG 2 and Rajinikanth’s Jailer.
But Jailer’s audience will mostly be limited to South India, while Gadar 2 is aiming at the north. Additionally, Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani is also a factor, having already spent two successful weeks in theatres.
On the other hand, OMG 2, starring Akshay Kumar and directed by Amit Rai, collected Rs 9 crore, early estimates show, and is the 8th biggest grosser of this year.
The movie was also released on August 11. Trade analysts on Friday initially said that Gadar 2 is expected to make around Rs 30 crore to Rs 35 crore on its opening day, while OMG 2 would collect around Rs 80.96 lakh.
Later they revised their estimates and pegged OMG 2 collections at Rs 7 crore. Trade analyst Girish Johar said ‘Gadar 2′ is expected to rake around Rs 25 crore on its opening day.
However, OMG 2 is likely to mint between Rs 10-15 crore on its first day, Johar said.
According to a Bollywood Hungama report, Gadar 2 could earn something around Rs 120 crore on the opening weekend, and extend it to Rs 175 crore over the long weekend with the Independence Day holiday on Tuesday.
Box Office India has said that the movie had a grand opening at several single screens in the Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar and Gujarat area.
On the other hand, OMG 2’s morning shows had dismal occupancy of around 18 per cent but it grew to a very impressive 66 per cent by the night shows, largely due to the positive reviews the film received.
Pathaan continues to remain the top opener of the year (Hindi language film) in India and worldwide, as per Pinkvilla estimates.
