'Pushpa 2 May Inaugurate 700 Cr Club'

Pushpa 2's advance bookings have set a new record, with advance bookings standing at Rs 50 crore on Day One.

Pushpa: The Rule is expected to dominate box office, with industry experts predicting that the movie will break opening-day records.

The much-awaited sequel to Pushpa: The Rise is set to be released on December 5, with Allu Arjun reprising his role as Pushpa Raj. Cinema exhibitors told Business Standard that the movie will be released in 2D, meaning Allu's fans will have to wait to watch it in 3D.

According to a report by Elara Capital, the Sukumar Bandreddi-directed film is set to achieve a global gross BO collection of Rs 1,000 crore (Rs 10 billion), with the Hindi version expected to gross Rs 500 crore (Rs 5 billion).

Pushpa: The Rise released in 2021, and grossed Rs 400 crore (Rs 4 billion) in India.

This massive demand could push theatre occupancy to over 40 per cent in December.

"There is a possibility that Pushpa 2 could be the highest-grossing movie in the country across all languages," said Amit Sharma, managing director of Miraj Entertainment. Sharma expects the Hindi-language version to generate Rs 60 crore to Rs 65 crore (Rs 600 million to Rs 650 million) on its opening day.

"The film is also poised to make history with an expected BO collection exceeding Rs 200 crore (Rs 2 billion) in its first weekend," said Gautam Dutta, CEO, revenue and operations, PVR Inox.

"Pushpa 2 is going to be the biggest movie in terms of BO numbers ever made in India," said Ashish Pandey, head of programming and strategic initiatives at MovieMax Cinemas.

"The movie will generate Rs 600 crore to Rs 800 crore (Rs 6 billion to Rs 8 billion) in Hindi, with a similar Rs 400-600 crore expected in other languages in the South. We are talking about Rs 1,000 crore to Rs 1,400 crore (Rs 10 billion to Rs 14 billion) for Pushpa 2."

With Hindi cinema struggling to grab audience attention, and only the horror-comedy genre and re-released films bringing the desired footfall for multiplexes, Pushpa 2 has gained momentum in terms of BO estimates and advance bookings.

"The prices for the Hindi version are in the same range as Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 and Singham Again. But when it comes to the South, ticket prices have gone up by 25 to 30 per cent," Sharma added.

Elara Capital believes that the movie's strong recall value will help it break records set by Baahubali 2: The Conclusion and KGF: Chapter 2 in terms of India's gross BO collection.

Baahubali 2, starring Prabhas, minted Rs 1,200 crore (Rs 12 billion) in India, and KGF: Chapter 2 grossed Rs 1,000 crore in the country.

According to the report, Pushpa 2's advance bookings have also set a new record, with advance bookings standing at Rs 50 crore (Rs 500 million) on Day One.

Subhash K Jha adds: Bihar exhibitor Roshan Singh says he doesn't have his fingers crossed for Pushpa 2: "Why should we keep our fingers crossed?" he asks. "Suspense is for a product whose launch effect is unsure."

"Pushpa 2 will do a minimum of Rs 250 crore (Rs 2.5 billion) on the first day. It will open bigger than recent blockbusters Animal and Kalki. Pushpa 2 will be the biggest success of Indian cinema."

Kumar Abhishek, manager of the Connplex in Patna, adds, "The advance for the Hindi version is beyond anything we expected. It is mayhem at the box office. We haven't seen anything like this, not even for Animal."

Trade guru Taran Adarsh adds: "The expectations from Pushpa 2 are humongous. The film is sure to take an earth-shattering start in all versions. The Hindi version will set new benchmarks for sure. It could be the biggest opener ever. A box office tsunami is on the way."

Prominent Bihar distributor Kishan Damani predicts, "Pushpa 2 should be inaugurating the Rs 700 crore (Rs 7 billion) club. The craze of this movie is massive across both masses and classes."