'Salaar' box office collection day 1: Prabhas' film becomes the biggest opener of 2023 at Rs 95 cr, outshines SRK's Pathaan, Jawan, Dunki

Prabhas' new film 'Salaar: Part One- Ceasefire' was released in theatres on December 22 and has emerged as the biggest blockbuster of 2023, shattering the records of several films.

Early estimates suggest that the film earned Rs 95 crore in India on its opening day across all languages, industry tracking site Sacnilk reported. The film had an overall 88.93 per cent Telugu occupancy on Friday.

With this, Prabhas' film has beaten Shah Rukh Khan's Jawan, Pathaan, Dunki, and Ranbir Kapoor's Animal to become the biggest opener of the year. Pathaan, headlined by Shah Rukh Khan, had minted Rs 57 crore on its opening day and Jawan had earned about Rs 89.5 crore on its first day.

Dunki, which was released just a day ahead of Salaar, managed to collect just Rs 30 crore on its opening day. Meanwhile, Ranbir Kapoor's Animal saw an opening day collection of about Rs 63.8 crore.

Trade expert Manobala Vijayabalan said that 'Salaar' also saw the biggest worldwide opening this year.

"BIGGEST WW opening of the year 2023 belongs to #Salaar. Previous opening day record was also held by Prabhas' #Adipurush. #SalaarCeaseFire exceeds all early estimates and now heading above Rs 175 crore."

Set in the fictional city of Khansaar, Salaar revolves around two friends Deva and Vardha, played by Prabhas and Prithviraj Sukumaran, who end up becoming arch-rivals. Directed by Prashanth Neel, the film has been released in Telugu, Kannada, Tamil, Malayalam and Hindi.

Produced by Hombale Films, the film also stars Shruti Haasan, Eshwari Rao, Jagapathi Babu and Sriya Reddy.

The USP of Salaar is an emotion between two friends and how this emotion translates to violence forms the core of the story, filmmaker Prashant Neel said.

With Salaar, Neel said his aim was for Prabhas ("Baahubali") to shed his superstar persona.

Also Read: 'Salaar' X Review: Prabhas' fans hail his 'extraordinary' performance in the 'MONSTER action drama'