HANUMAN ANSH, a film released almost 3 weeks back, is a success and may prove a HIT film as collections picked up hugely in the third week. The film is based on a spiritual saint Neeb Karori Baba, and did nothing for two weeks as there was no awareness. However, a change in marketing is said to built up this awareness with the followers of the saint and there has been an insane pick up of collections. Its difficult to say where the followers will take the film but on the costs, its sure to do well.

The film did around 10 lakhs nett on the first day and around 90 lakhs in the first week and then 40 lakhs nett in the second week. The third Friday was 15 lakh nett and was nothing much there but then Saturday went to 85 lakhs nett. Sunday was excellent with 2.25 crore nett but the best day was still to come as Tuesday was an extraordinary 2.35 crore nett.

Despite the release of TOXIC, the film still managed to hold well and looks to have collected 1.50 crore nett on Wednesday which gives the film 9.75 crore nett till date with a lot more to come as TOXICis not going to affect this film much. The film is doing best in Delhi/UP, East Punjab and Mumbai.

This devotional/religious angle seems to be really working at the moment as a Telugu film IRUMUDI is doing extraordinary due to this devotional factor as well in Nizam/Andhra though that is devotion with a commercial format while here with HANUMAN ANSH, its a true life story.

It may not be cinema in the true format where films like GUNGA JUMNA, SHOLAY or GADAR create sensations not only when they released but with the next generations as well. But the fact is this sort of content has an audience today and gets collections and that's the bottom line. Sometimes it can go to levels which are unthinkable and with limited investments. Obviously it will lead to forced devotion in films which may not even require it but that's how trends work.

Before the pandemic, this type of content did not find an audience and it basically shows there is a slightly different audience profile as compared to before the pandemic. There were so many devotional films based on saints or gods but practically all went unnoticed. 

-------------------------------------

The devotional film, HANUMAN ANASH, based on the life of Neeb Karori Baba, is now going to another level and it collected more than 6 crore nett on its fourth Friday. The film had started with just 10 lakhs nett on day one and 90 lakhs nett in week one could go anywhere. To which level this breakout will go is an unknown. The fourth Friday is the second best of the year after DHURANDHAR THE REVENGE and it will be challenging the Ranveer Singh-starrer over the coming weeks. It will all depend on how many of the followers of the Baba go to the theatres to watch the film as now awareness is there and the word is spreading.

It is certain that 6 crore nett is not going by the highest day and it may well hit double digits on the weekend. The film will probably be competing with TOXIC soon as the trajectory here is up while for that film it is down. The collections so far are 18 crore nett but it will be hitting 50 crore nett in now time and god knows where it will go from there.

HANUMAN ANASH is a HIT and probably is sure to go up a notch or two and you never know even more when this sort of thing happens. The break out reminds of those smaller budget blockbusters of yore which started their journey with a few thousand and went on to do multiple crores. The film is lesser in the South and East but the other circuits are outstanding especially North India.

The collections of HANUMAN ANASH till date are as follows.

Week One - 90,00,000 apprx

Week Two - 45,00,000 apprx

Week Three - 10,50,00,000 apprx

Friday - 6,25,00,000 apprx

AWARAPAN 2 had a good second week collecting 29 crore nett though the last two days got hard due to the release of TOXIC. The drop in the second week is 74% but that does not matter much considering the huge first week of the film. The last two days of the week have curtailed its run but TOXIC now will not be much of a force and it remains to be seen if AWARAPAN 2 can recover somewhat.

There is the Raksha Bandhan period over the weekend which the film can take advantage of as showcasing should get better as TOXIC is falling. The film stands at 141 crore nett after 2 weeks and if it is to reach 150 crore nett, a lot will depend on what it can do this weekend though realistically 150 crore nett looks tough. If there was no TOXIC, then the film would have got there.

Still the film is the third biggest HIT of the year after DHURANDHAR THE REVENGE and BORDER 2 and lifts the standing of Emran Hashmi and Disha Patani. It also shows that initials come without the big budgets. There is the sequel factor here which gets credited the initial but there was no sequel factor with EK DEEWANE KI DEEWANIYAT and TERE ISHK MEIN. This means that this type of film holds heavy appeal especially in the northern and central belts.

The collections of AWARAPAN 2 till date are as follows.

Friday - 5,25,00,000 apprx

Saturday - 8,50,00,000 apprx

Sunday - 8,75,00,000 apprx

Monday - 2,25,00,000 apprx

Tuesday - 2,75,00,000 apprx

Wednesday - 75,00,000 apprx

Thursday - 60,00,000 apprx

BATWARA 1947 had a dull second weekend as it collected a little more than 2 crore nett takings its ten day total to 31 crore nett. The film will fall short of the 35 crore nett mark mark and finish with lifetime business of 33 crore nett.

The collections of BATWARA 1947 are as follows.

Friday - 50,00,000 apprx

Saturday - 75,00,000 apprx

Sunday - 85,00,000 apprx

TOXIC (Hindi) saw a drop in collections on Thursday as it collected 21.50 crore nett which is a drop of 60% from the first day. The normal drop would have been around 40% and you take 45% as there was a strong Eid effect in parts. But going down by 60% is just too much and it makes it a struggle from here. Despite the negative reports you would have though the Hindi version still would manage to get to the AVERAGE mark at least due to the initial. However, with this drop, that does not look the case now.

There is Raksha Bandhan on Friday which should help collections but advances were heavily down and though it should gain some ground in current its unlikely the colelctions can reach the levels of Thursday. The eastern markets of Bihar, West Bengal and Assam held better on the second day with drops in the 50-55% range but it hardly makes a difference. The main circuits of Mumbai and North both dropped over 60%.

The home market of Mysore/Karnataka dropped more than Hindi and that will probably be the trend in the other Southern markets. Mysore/Karnataka collected 21.50 crore nett (including Hindi contribution) on day one and second day is 8 crore nett apprx. The all India collections of the film were 95 crore nett on day one and the second day will probably be 33 crore nett apprx for a two day total of 128 crore nett.

The Hindi version stands at 75 crore nett after two days but the film is going to be mainly about the first day as after that it all looks bad. The only winner from the film will be Yash due to the initial the film took while less said about the film the better as not many films fall like this.

The collections of TOXIC (Hindi) are as follows.

Wednesday - 53,50,00,000 apprx

Thursday - 21,50,00,000 apprx

----------------------------------------

TOXIC (Hindi) dropped around 15% on Friday and the drop could have been more but it got saved by Raksha Bandhan as some circuits held up with a similar number to the day before while others saw a falls of 20-25% which is probably the real trend. But the holiday period aided the film. This takes the film to 94 crore nett over the first three days.

It is the third best weekend of the year after DHURANDHAR THE REVENGE and BORDER 2 but the trend of the film is just not there and there is not much hope post the weekend. The collections are fine as per the expectations of film as 90-100 crore nett after three days is a good result but that's because it was not expected to open over 50 crore nett. Now when the 50 crore nett has come, then it should be doing more than 94 crore nett.

The film will get the benefit of Raksha Bandhan over the weekend and collections should hold from here and probably take it towards a 135-140 crore nett. After that. its going to be tough. The only positive is going to be the huge initial where in many circuits its actually the record holder if we take the sequels.

In the industry it maybe seen in some quarters its down to the sex or suggestive sex and that zone does not and never has worked at these record breaking levels. The film has a scale and action and the hero is a draw post KGF - CHAPTER 2 especially in areas where most of the bigger Hindi film stars struggle and that is why the film got a huge first day.

Still due to the cost, the opening day has not proved good enough due to the falls after. It never had to do anything special post the first day. Just a normal trajectory would have seen the film through but the content faced total rejection from the public.

The three day collections of TOXIC (Hindi) are as follows.

Wednesday - 53,50,00,000 apprx

Thursday - 22,00,00,000 apprx

Friday - 18,50,00,000 apprx

----------------------------------------

TOXIC (Hindi) dropped again on Saturday as the evenings made no ground whatsoever as the film was not much down from the previous day in the morning and with Saturday you would expect it to make ground. However, it was the opposite as the gap got wider from the previous day. It could be down to how Raksha Bandhan is playing out. Today its a little ahead in most chains but has Sunday evening to come. Not that it matters much if it collects 12 or 16 crore as the result will be the same. The film will not add much post the weekend.

The rejection is such that there is hardly any benefit of Raksha Bandhan. The collections are better in the Hindi mass circuits but by minimal amounts. The contribution from the national chains was less on day one due to the rampage in mass circuits and its actually gone down further after the first day. The film stands at 109 crore nett apprx after four days and the extended weekend will be 125 crore at the very best. The film is worse down South where it is a total disaster and its ditto in Overseas.

The collections of TOXIC (Hindi) are as follows.

Wednesday - 53,50,00,000 apprx

Thursday - 22,00,00,000 apprx

Friday - 18,50,00,000 apprx

Saturday - 14,75,00,000 apprx

An opening collection of a little over R100 crore is the dream of many filmmakers. Yash’s Toxic: A Fairy Tale for Grown-ups achieved that across its six languages when it released on August 26. But things can change quickly. And they did. Director Geetu Mohandas’s action fare, which was panned widely by critics, reportedly closed its extended weekend tally at just over Rs 200 crore.

The fall on the second day itself was by 50-60 per cent, revealed exhibitor Raj Bansal. “We didn’t expect the fall to be so huge. We were expecting the numbers to rise on Raksha Bandhan [August 28], but that didn’t happen. I think Monday’s figures of the Hindi version will come down to Rs 5 crore. Toxic will be one of the biggest flops of recent times,” Bansal told mid-day.

Since Yash announced the action film — also starring Nayanthara and Kiara Advani — in 2023, it became a highly anticipated project. According to exhibitor Akshaye Rathi, the leading man has delivered on his stardom.

Rathi shared, “Despite the teaser and songs not earning appreciation, the film put together a huge [first-day] figure. That shows Yash’s stardom. After the audience’s reactions came out, the [low] numbers had nothing to with his stardom. The content didn’t work.”

Even as he dismissed the rumours that the makers indulged in corporate booking, Rathi feels Toxic will wrap up its run as early as the end of this week. “I don’t see it continuing for long after this week,” he said.

More than two decades after a party spat with Salman Khan, filmmaker Subhash Ghai has revisited the altercation while recalling how the two eventually moved past it and went on to work together in the 2008 film Yuvvraaj.

Ghai recalled how a spat at a party escalated into verbal abuse and a brief scuffle between him and the actor. “We were at a party, and Salman was high. He had an issue with me and asked why I did a certain thing. When I explained it was my call as a director, he started abusing me. I asked him to stop, and we had a spat right there,” the 81-year-old told Times Now.

Ghai further shared how the situation eventually required intervention from Salman’s father, veteran screenwriter Salim Khan. “Salim saheb called me and said Salman had confessed everything to his mother. He told me, ‘I have scolded him,’ and sent Salman over to my house to apologize,” he added.

When Salman later apologized, Ghai said that seeing the respect he had for his father made him appreciate the actor’s character and move past the incident.

“After that, we began visiting each other regularly and eventually worked on a film together,” Ghai added.

The rocky start eventually gave way to a lasting friendship. Over the years, Ghai has often praised Khan’s conduct, most recently sharing a photo with the actor on Instagram from Jackie Shroff’s birthday celebrations earlier this year.

Activist and environmentalist Sonam Wangchuk has responded to Aamir Khan’s recent claim that he and the makers of 3 Idiots did not know him while making the 2009 film. Wangchuk, who has himself previously said Phunsukh Wangdu was not entirely based on him, now says he had a “detailed meeting” with Khan before the film and jokes that the actor may have forgotten it.

“He was watching my speech in his Ghajini outfit. Maybe because of that he experienced short-term memory loss and forgot our meeting after 15 minutes,” he said, referring to the 2008 film where Khan’s character suffers from short-term memory loss.

“Perhaps he was too immersed in his Ghajini persona when he watched me receive an award at an event we both attended… We discussed a lot of ideas,” he said on Prakhar Gupta’s podcast.

As for the character of Wangdu, Wangchuk asserts he does not claim it was entirely modeled after him, but calls it an “influence or inspiration”.

He said, “Maybe he shared those ideas with his writers, who then modified the existing script. Perhaps he did it subconsciously, or the writers were unaware of where the ideas originated. Either way, I have no issue with it,” he said.

Wangchuk also responded to Salman Khan’s viral ‘it’s done bro’ tweet from July, when the actor asked him to end his strike. “Majbooriyan hoti hongi sabki. Aage peeche, daayen baayen dekhna padta hai. Lekin unhone kuch kaha uski main izzat karta hoon,” he said. HTC

Phunsukh Wangdu, Khan’s character in 3 Idiots, has been popularly believed to have been inspired by Wangchuk. The debate resurfaced in July after actor Omi Vaidya, who played Chatur in the film, referred to Wangchuk as an inspiration while supporting his hunger strike.

Clarifying the connection at the London Indian Film Festival, Khan said, “No, that is not true actually. That is a misconception. I didn’t know about Mr Sonam at that time when we were doing the film, 3 Idiots... Neither Raju nor Abhijat [Rajkumar Hirani or Abhijat Joshi], who are the two writers, we didn’t know about Mr Sonam.”

However, the actor called Wangchuk an inspiration irrespective while wishing for his health.

Batwara 1947 may have slowed down Sunny Deol’s bullish run at the box office that began with Gadar 2: The Katha Continues (2023), but he has no reason to worry. The actor has four big films in his kitty. Soon after the Partition drama’s release, Deol moved on to the shoot of Excel Entertainment’s cop thriller, Antony. He will follow it up with Ramayana: Part 2, Jaat 2, and Rajkumar Santoshi’s next.  

A source told mid-day that Deol resumed the filming of Antony, directed by Balaji Ganesh, in Film City on August 26.

“The unit is currently focusing on the high-octane action sequences of the film that sees Sunny as a cop trying to bust a crime syndicate. With action director Ravi Verma, the actor has been shooting car chase sequences,” shared the source. 

Wrapping up Antony by October, the actor will dive into the immersive world of Ramayana: Part 2. Ranbir Kapoor has begun shooting his portions for Nitesh Tiwari’s outing.

The source added, “While Sunny, as Lord Hanuman, makes a brief appearance in the first part, he will have major action and dramatic sequences in the sequel.”

Jaat 2’s producers are keen to take their movie on floors by December. The only roadblock is said to be director Gopichand Malineni’s busy date diary. “Gopi is busy with his next film. So, the producers have to decide whether they want to wait for him or rope in another director,” added the source.

By early next year, Deol will face the camera for Santoshi’s Ghatak Ghus Ke Maarega.

Actor Suniel Shetty turned 65 on August 11 and penned a heartfelt note on LinkedIn recently, reflecting on how his priorities towards work have evolved over the years. The actor now opens up about navigating the industry at his age and what continues to shape his career.

“Even now, I’m not easily available. I’ve made sure that I only associate with people I believe will help me grow and do something that leaves a positive impact on people,” Suniel shares, adding that his relevance also comes from his positive approach to life. “I’m very content, happy and very secure and that is basically the relevance.”

The actor, who was last seen in Welcome To The Jungle and reportedly has an action film in the pipeline with Tiger Shroff, also reflects on embracing his age and working alongside the younger generation. “Accepting roles which were age appropriate is the only reason I’ve landed myself into this position, because there’s no point competing with kids half your age who are better looking, better built, and masters of their craft,” he says adding that this philosophy extends beyond the screen into his life as well.

“I’ve accepted it very gracefully, be it in my role of a husband, a son, a father or a grandfather. I’m consistently working on myself, thus I’ve perhaps delayed the process of ageing, but it’s nothing to be shy about. Wrinkles will always be there and that is a part of my life now,” he says.

Once the poster boy of masculine protagonists in Hindi cinema, Suniel further reflects on how the portrayal of masculinity has evolved in Bollywood, with alpha and hypermasculine heroes taking centre stage.

Comparing it with the ’90s, he says, “The scripts were alpha then. They were very strong character-wise. It was for the love of the country, the uniform, the mother, sister and family, and that was the alpha male. It’s a bit negative today probably because there is too much violence, as we want to make it as real and gruesome as possible. The ’90s films weren’t as gruesome. Sometimes, it’s difficult to even watch a complete action scene because of the blood and gore in it, and that’s the only thing that I don’t like about films today,” he ends.

For Sonali Kulkarni, Hyderabad has become more than the backdrop to her latest film. Nearly two years into her journey with The Paradise, the actor is learning Telugu, finding comfort in pappu and discovering a new sense of belonging in an industry that has welcomed her warmly. As she makes her Telugu debut in Srikanth Odela’s film alongside Nani, Sonali reflects on matching the intensity of the team, the enduring legacy of Dil Chahta Hai and the many characters she is still eager to inhabit.

The Paradise schedule has left Sonali little time to explore Hyderabad, but the experience has nevertheless given her a strong sense of belonging. “The amount of affection and warmth I keep getting from the Telugu industry — I am overwhelmed,” she says. “The little world I have experienced here feels like paradise, literally.”

Food, however, has offered its own introduction to the city. “I am dying to have some double ka meetha! Earlier, I kept calling it shahi tukda and people here just wouldn’t understand what I was talking about!” she laughs.

On set, it is the pappu that has become her comfort food. “I don’t eat much rice, but I’ve been allowing myself a little indulgence. Maybe twice a week, I’ll have some rice with pappu. It’s become my little comfort food during the shoot.”

Sonali says she was surprised when she was approached for The Paradise, particularly because the team saw her beyond the image created by films such as Dil Chahta Hai, Taxi No. 9211: Nau Do Gyarah and Mission Kashmir.

“When I heard the story, I was all ears. The story has drama and emotions. It’s super special. I just wanted to be part of that story. The intensity Nani and Mohan Babu sir bring to a scene, the passion Raghav brings, and the innocence and beauty Kayadu brings — for me, it was absolutely demanding and challenging to match that energy everywhere,” she says.

Twenty-five years after Dil Chahta Hai, Sonali still finds the milestone difficult to process. Looking back, she remembers the film as “a huge gang of friends making something beautiful” rather than a project anyone expected to become a cultural touchstone. “Dil Chahta Hai has given me my identity. Back then, nobody knew that it was going to create such history or records,” she says.

Its influence, she adds, continues to travel across generations. “My daughter watched it last year. She loved it. She was just 12 years old when she watched it. I am so happy that she liked it,” she shares.

----------------------------------------------

There’s so much I want to explore as an actor. I feel like I’m entering a very exciting phase of my career. I would love to play an athlete on screen because sport has always been a very real part of my life

- Sonali Kulkarni

Even as Muzammil Ibrahim shoots for Salman Khan’s next, the working title of which is SVC63, there’s another biggie lined up. The actor told mid-day that creator and director Neeraj Pandey is set to take the third season of Special Ops on floors soon.

Ibrahim, who plays undercover agent Avinash in the Kay Kay Menon-led spy thriller, is hopeful that his character will enjoy longer screen space in the next season.

The actor shared, “We will be on Special Ops sets soon. The show introduced me to a wider audience. After season two, Neeraj sir told me that they received feedback that people wanted to see more of me. I hope that the team makes a note of it and I get to see more of [my character].”

The second edition of Special Ops, also starring Karan Tacker and Vinay Pathak, dropped on JioHotstar in July 2025.

Expressing his admiration for Pandey, Ibrahim said, “Working with Neeraj sir is a different experience altogether. The professionalism the man and his team bring to the table is amazing.”