In a remarkable box office performance, Pushpa 2: The Rule is on track to become the highest grossing Indian film of all time, challenging the long-held record of Baahubali 2, which soared to success during the pre-pandemic era.
Despite originating from the Telugu film industry, Pushpa 2 has significantly outperformed expectations in the Hindi market, making waves across India.
As the film enters its third week in theatres, it continues to draw audiences, earning Rs 13 crore net on Friday. This follows a robust second-week collection of ₹264.8 crore, bringing its total earnings to approximately Rs 1004.35 crore, according to Sacnilk. Notably, Rs 632 crore of this total has been generated from the Hindi version, while the Telugu version has contributed Rs 297.8 crore.
Pushpa 2 has already surpassed the collections of other major films such as Stree 2 and Jawan. With the current box office record for Baahubali 2 standing at Rs 1040 crore, industry experts predict that Pushpa 2 is likely to break this record in the coming week, especially with the holiday season of Christmas and New Year approaching, which traditionally boosts cinema attendance.
"Pushpa: The Rule" made a total of Rs 1,004.35 crore at the box office. This amount includes Rs 297.8 crore from the Telugu version, Rs 632.6 crore from the Hindi version, Rs 52.8 crore from the Tamil version, Rs 7.16 crore from the Kannada version, and Rs 13.99 crore from the Malayalam version.
However, Pushpa 2 will face stiff competition from upcoming releases, including Varun Dhawan's Baby John and Mufasa: The Lion King. As distributors battle for screen space, the family-friendly appeal of Mufasa may attract younger audiences during the school break, further complicating the box office landscape for Pushpa 2.
As of 11 am on Thursday, the film sold a total of 35,000 tickets in PVR, Inox and Cinepolis.
The advance bookings for the film's Hindi versions have been decent, mostly driven by Shah Rukh Khan's voiceover of Mufasa and Aryan Khan's voiceover of Simba, as per Bollywood Hungama.
As per film critic and trade analyst Ramesh Bala, the film's Telugu premiere shows have seen an excellent response in advance bookings. He explained in a post on X that this is because Telugu superstar Mahesh Babu is voicing the lead character Mufasa.
Besides this, the film is also expected to benefit because of the lucrative Christmas period. Moreover, Pushpa 2's shows have been reduced in multiplex chains in its week 3 due to the release of Mufasa: The Lion King and Varun Dhawan's Baby John, as per media reports.