Exactly 40 years after Sunny Deol made his starring debut in the film Betaab, the 65-year-old is delivering the biggest hit of his career. Gadar 2, the sequel to his 2001 blockbuster film Gadar, made Rs 40 crore on its opening day in theatres, according to industry tracker Sacnilk. The film registered an overall occupancy of over 60% on day one, while night shows accounted for a stunning 86% occupancy.
That’s a higher occupancy than Shah Rukh Khan’s Pathaan on opening day, but Pathaan still holds the record for the biggest Bollywood debut of all time, at Rs 55 crore. Gadar 2 did, however, outperform Prabhas’ big-budget mythological epic Adipurush, which debuted with Rs 32 crore.
Incidentally, Adipurush debuted on Netflix and Prime Video on Friday, offering an unexpected challenge to Gadar 2, which is already having to deal with Akshay Kumar-starrer OMG 2 and Rajinikanth’s Jailer. But Jailer’s audience will mostly be restricted to South India, while Gadar 2 is targetting the north. Additionally, Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani is also a factor, having already spent two successful weeks in theatres.
According to a Bollywood Hungama report, Gadar 2 could be looking at an opening weekend haul of Rs 120 crore, and Rs 175 crore over the extended Independence Day holiday weekend. Box Office India is reporting record breaking numbers at several single screens in the Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar and Gujarat area, although it says that Punjab and West Bengal could have been better.
A Directed by Anil Sharma, Gadar 2 also stars Utkarsh Sharma and Ameesha Patel. Released in 2001, Gadar became a rage at the box office, and ended up grossing more than Rs 130 crore worldwide.
