MIRZAPUR THE MOVIE recorded an excellent first day of 25.50 crore nett with outstanding collections in Delhi/UP, East Punjab and Bihar. The latter is practically similar to the collections of BORDER 2 and has to be the stand out. You would never think that a film from Excel Entertainment would be out performing in Bihar but this is what has happened with MIRZAPUR THE MOVIE.

The film has got the benefit of Janmashtami in many states especially the ones where it has out performed. However, in many other states, it was a normal day. So, the film will probably be a mixed bag on Saturday as in some places it can go up while others will be down. The film has collected around 15% more than AWARAPAN 2 but on fair value its a probably a bit less due to the holiday factor.

The film scored heavily over AWARAPAN 2 in Delhi/UP, East Punjab and Bihar even though a circuit like Delhi/UP was one of the better circuits for the Emraan Hashmi-starrer. Mumbai circuit is the same for both films while AWARAPAN 2 was better in places like West Bengal and Nizam/Andhra. The first day is better AWARAPAN 2 but if the weekend can come out better also it would be a great result as the Emraan Hashmi-starrer had the Independence Day holiday on the second day which propelled the collections.

Overall this initial means another HIT for the film industry after AWARAPAN 2 and HANUMAN ANSH. Its likely to do better than HIT business like AWARAPAN 2 but for that its about the weekday business. The film also had a Telugu version which collected around 25 lakhs nett on a limited release which is reasonable. 

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The weekend is turning out to be a huge one for the film industry as MIRZAPUR THE MOVIE and  HANUMAN ANSH run riot. It was a holiday for Janmashtami and both films managed to show growth from the partial holiday. MIRZAPUR THE MOVIE collected 25.50 crore nett on the first day and has collected 31 crore nett on the second day which is a jump of almost 25%.  The two day collections of the film stand at around 56.50 crore nett and its on course for a 90 crore nett weekend. Janmashtami has been played out over two days and hence, the growth maybe limited on Sunday.

The film has seen one of the weaker links on day one. Maharashtra come on board as collections went up here around 50% as compared to the 25% national average. Delhi/UP and East Punjab which were fantastic on day went up further on day two. The latter, which is weaker circuit today, compared to a few years ago was outstanding on Saturday. Bihar could not grow on day two but the two day business is extraordinary with a total over 3 crore nett.

The film is also doing very well overseas especially considering it does not have amuch of a cast and is heading for a weekend of $2.25-2.5 million which will be the fourth biggest weekend of the year after DHURANDHAR THE REVENGE, BORDER 2 and BHOOTH BANGLA. The main markets have done well with Gulf and Canada and Australia being best. 

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MIRZAPUR THE MOVIE had a fantastic opening weekend as it collected over 91 crore nett and the trend was also very strong. It was the Janmashtami period and so, maybe the trend does not show up in the numbers as growth is 25% and 10% on Saturday and Sunday respectively. But Janmashtami boosted the collections on Friday and Saturday.

These collections are also coming with the huge wave of HANUMAN ANSH which gets bigger day by day. Yet, MIRZAPUR THE MOVIE has remained pretty much unaffected so far. The weekend trend ensures a strong hold on Monday as first day fair value is probably around 20-21 crore nett and if we take that there have been solid jumps over the weekend. The film will comfortably cross the 100 crore nett mark today.

North India and Bihar recorded outstanding collections. Its like the olden days when rural based mass films ruled these markets but that time they were with huge stars in the films while here there are no stars. It was daku's then and its gangsters now. You get the audience in in these circuits and there is no looking back. Its always been this since the inception of cinema but for 10-12 years before the pandemic, the industry was getting away with appealing to a minority in handful of cities.

The film is already a HIT and should end up going higher though that will be about the second week. The film will be facing competition every week with new releases and on top there is HANUMAN NASH. But there is appreciation and so, it should hold well enough over the next few weeks. Its a weekend where films led by Pankaj Tripathi and Shobhinaw Satyaa have taken the box office apart which shows how importance of stars is getting less while the power of devotion and sequels keeps on getting stronger.

The first weekend collection of MIRZAPUR THE MOVIE are as follows.

Friday - 25,50,00,000 apprx

Saturday - 31,00,00,000 apprx

Sunday - 35,00,00,000 apprx

TOXIC (Hindi) had a low first week of 136 crore nett as collections came down fast over the weekdays. The film had seen a big drop from the second day itself and by the end of the week it was doing only 2 crore nett business. As MIRZAPUR THE MOVIE has taken a strong start and HANUMAN ANSH is doing outstanding business, there will be nothing for the film in week two. It will not even 10 crore nett from here on.

Despite these dull collections, the Hindi version is still far better than what has done on in the South where the film is a huge disaster and its the same story in Overseas. In these parts, the film fetched huge prices leaving the distributors well short on the prices paid. The film collected 54 crore nett in Mysore/Karnataka (including Hindi version) over its first nine days and most of this came over the first five days.

The all India collections of the film are 221 crore nett apprx over the first nine days with PEDDI the top grosser for a South Indian film in 2026 is at 225 crore nett. TOXIC will get past that. However, the cost to produce and release PEDDI was around 325 crore while here for TOXIC, its 475 crore. TOXIC is among the five most expensive films released in India till date.

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

Sunday - 14,00,00,000 apprx

Monday - 4,25,00,000 apprx

Tuesday - 4,50,00,000 apprx

Wednesday - 2,50,00,000 apprx

Thursday - 2,00,00,000 apprx

The devotional film, HANUMAN ANSH, is looking to become the highest theatrical return on investment of all time. The biggest ever till date is a another devotional film called JAI SANTOSHI MAA (1975) which had a production budget of 5 lakh and did a theatrical share of 4 crore apprx which is 80 times its budget. Although the initial budget was only 5 lakh with 16 prints, it went much higher as many more prints were taken out to monetize the film as it was probably never thought it would break out the way it did.

HANUMAN ANSH has a production cost of 2 crore and should do a share of 50 crore at least which is 25 times the budget. But here marketing and prints costs are 1 crore which takes the total cost to 3 crore which means the theatrical share will be at least 17 times the total cost. The total cost of JAI SANTOSHI MAA (1975) after a year of its release would be around 25 lakh apprx or maybe a little more which means theatrical revenue 16 times its a total cost. Basically weird it may sound but HANUMAN ANSH is a historical BLOCKBUSTER.

A film like HUM AAPKE HAIN KOUN (1994) went from 9 lakhs day one to 72 crore final business which is probably the biggest multiplier form day one to lifetime in the last 35 years. It is a multiplier of 800. Here the opening day was 8.50 lakh and the multiplier is going to be much higher than HUM AAPKE HAIN KOUN as HANUMAN ANSH will reach 72 crore nett in the next 2-3 days. The biggest multiplier we have on record is the 1981 film EK DUUJE KE LIYE which went from 10k to 9 crore apprx. There will be others probably as well in terms of multiplier but many films have not been tabulated.

The takeaway from these films is thats its never about the screen count but the content and the public willing to watch that content. There are a lot of complainers in the industry about not getting screens but you will always get the screens your content deserves according to the audience out there to watch your film. Eventually its the public which decides the screen count and nobody can really fight against that. 

The collections of HANUMAN ANSH till date are as follows.

Friday - 6,25,00,000 apprx

Saturday - 9,25,00,000 apprx

Sunday - 12,00,00,000 apprx

Monday - 5,00,00,000 apprx

Tuesday - 8,00,00,000 apprx

Wednesday - 7,00,00,000 apprx

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The devotional film, HANUMAN ANSH, is creating history and its looks set to demolish all records in week five. The film has just collected 57.50 crore nett in its fourth week which is only less than DHURANDHAR (2025) as far as fourth week business goes for Hindi films. The way that the fifth week has started, it looks almost certain to record the highest fifth week seen in history for a Hindi film.

This week has seen MIRZAPUR release. So, you expect the film to slow a little but its the opposite as collections look like coming out higher than Thursday. Only yesterday, it was written here that the film could do a share of 50 crore at the very least, but now that figure goes towards 75 crore. The 200 crore nett mark could actually be realistic for this film now if it follows through like this next week also.

The fifth week could not only be a record for a Hindi film but also a fifth week record for any film released in India in its multiple versions. This record is held by KANTARA (2022) and here HANUMAN ANSH is on course to beat that with just one Hindi version. This is when box office has no explanation and its not about content either as that level can be judged by the trailer. Its a wave which is just unstoppable at the moment and where it will stop is an unknown. Nevertheless, this wave has made the film the biggest theatrical return on investment HIT in the history of Indian cinema (theatrical share against total cost of film).

The collections of HANUMAN ANSH till date are as follows.

Friday - 6,25,00,000 apprx

Saturday - 9,25,00,000 apprx

Sunday - 12,00,00,000 apprx

Monday - 5,00,00,000 apprx

Tuesday - 8,00,00,000 apprx

Wednesday - 7,00,00,000 apprx

Thursday - 10,00,00,000 apprx

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The devotional film, HANUMAN ANSH, was historic on its fifth Friday as it got the highest collection ever in history for the fifth Friday. It was just not the highest collection for a Hindi film but for any film released in multiple languages in India. The film collected a huge 9 crore nett which has taken the collections of the film to 78 crore nett.

There was a holiday for Janmashtami but it does not really matter for this film as even from Janmashtami, the film looks like going up on Saturday. No film in India has ever collected 50 crore nett in week five and there are good chances this will be the first. The highest collection ever for a HINDI film in week five is DHURANDHAR at 42 crore nett and that will be beaten. KANTARA (2022) holds the record for highest fifth week for a film released in INDIA and that should be beaten as well.

The wave of the film is such that its unstoppable at the moment and where it will stop is an unknown as next week could go on like this or collections could come down to lower levels in the weekdays. They could even go higher as there is a spillover from devotees to the regular audience as the film is doing so well now that it makes more people go to see what the noise is about.

The collections of HANUMAN ANSH till date are as follows.

Friday - 6,25,00,000 apprx

Saturday - 9,25,00,000 apprx

Sunday - 12,00,00,000 apprx

Monday - 5,00,00,000 apprx

Tuesday - 8,00,00,000 apprx

Wednesday - 7,00,00,000 apprx

Thursday - 10,00,00,000 apprx

Friday - 9,00,00,000 apprx

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The devotional film, HANUMAN ANSH, is on a record breaking run and there are no words to describe the business it is doing as it records a 45.50 crore nett fifth weekend. This beats the fifth WEEK record of DHURANDHAR's first part in just three days and in four days it will beat KANTARA (2022) which holds the highest fifth week for any film released in India though it was with multiple versions. KANTARA (all versions) was 49 crore nett in week five.

The film is now standing around 115 crore nett after its fifth weekend and its total unknown where the film will go. In the fifth week, you have an idea where a film is going but not with this one. The one certainty now is that 200 crore nett its crossing and then is it 300, 400, 500 or even more only time will tell. The film collected 21 crore nett on Sunday which is its highest day so far and its quite possible bigger days are still to come.

This sort of thing is more than just a film and its only ever happened once in history with JAI SANTOSHI MAA (1975) and this is a repeat. It can probably only happen with a devotional/religious film when it really catches on. Post pandemic there have been some huge break outs like THE KASHMIR FILES and MAHAVATAR NARSIMHA but HANUMAN ANSH is at a different level. Its going to be up there with the likes of JAI SANTOSHI MAA (1975), EK DUUJE KE LIYE (1981), NADIYA KE PAAR (1982) and a few others for the greatest breakouts ever seen in the history of Indian cinema.

The collections of HANUMAN ANSH till date are as follows.

Friday - 9,25,00,000 apprx

Saturday - 15,25,00,000 apprx

Sunday - 21,00,00,000 apprx

Mumbai: Multiplex operator PVR Inox said on Monday that its promoters had received anonymous communications alleging impropriety by certain employees, but a preliminary examination found no evidence of kickbacks.

The statement came after ET on Saturday reported, citing people familiar with the matter, that senior company executive Pramod Arora had been asked to leave in April following an internal probe into allegations of kickbacks involving developers of cinema properties.

PVR Inox said Arora was not asked to leave and that he resigned citing personal reasons. The company had not responded to ET's earlier email seeking comment.

"The company wishes to clarify and inform that in early April 2026, the two promoters of the company received anonymous communications containing allegations of impropriety by certain employees," PVR Inox said Monday.

The communications did not explicitly name Arora but referred to certain acronyms or initials, the company said. They also did not contain specific actionable details, such as instances, dates or names of developers allegedly involved in providing kickbacks, it added.

The communications were forwarded by the promoters to the company for further consideration, it said.

The company engaged external third-party experts to conduct a preliminary assessment.

According to PVR Inox, Arora resigned from the company on May 4, 2026, citing personal reasons. The resignation was accepted, subject to his continuing obligations towards the company.

At 21, Anupriya Nagar invested all the money she had earned and saved from three years of part-time jobs in the UK into her first film, Hanuman Ansh, despite having no filmmaking experience. A graduate of economics from the University of Bath, she had even got a job in Zurich before returning to India in 2025 and eventually getting involved with the film as a co-producer.

“I feel like age is just a number,” she says. “My only focus was to bring Maharaj ji’s (Neem Karoli Baba) stories to the younger audience, to Gen Z. We get to know about such things through foreigners. I myself got to know about him through a foreigner and, being the youth of India, I was ashamed that I was not getting to know about him through his own story.”

For her, backing Hanuman Ansh was never about financial returns. “This was the risk I was willing to take. I earned this money in the three years that I studied in the UK, doing part-time jobs. When I came across Maharaj ji at a beautiful juncture of my life, I just wanted to get into this project. I didn’t know what I could contribute because I had not done filmmaking, but I was ready to give my heart and soul to it. The project needed some investment at that particular time, so I said, ‘Whatever I have, I’m ready to give you guys.’”

Her family initially worried about the decision. “My father was protective. He said, ‘You don’t know much about filmmaking and you know how the industry is. You’re so young.’ But when I told him I was making a film on a noble saint and narrated the story, he was fine. They’ve been with me through thick and thin. In fact, I think they do more publicity for the film than I do!”

The film’s box office journey has since surprised everyone. After opening on 300 screens and dropping to just 30 on its eighth day, it eventually expanded to over 1,500 screens, and now releasing internationally. It has also touched the Rs. 100 crore figure.

“My box office is people knowing about Maharaj ji,” she says. “But the collections reassure me that people are interested in this kind of content. People are making an effort to get his darshan in theatres.”

The film ends with a promise of a sequel, and Anupriya confirms it will happen, “We are not going to dishearten our viewers. Maharaj ji has given us so much in abundance regarding the box office, so we don’t have a choice but to make this.”

More importantly, she wants the sequel to retain the simplicity of the first film. “Our film was supposed to be made in Rs. 2 crore. If we had made the same film in Rs. 10 crore, it wouldn’t have come out this way. The rawness and simplicity came from the low budget, and we will definitely keep that in mind,” Anupriya ends.

Trouble has come knocking before the team of Mirzapur: The Movie can celebrate its strong opening at the box office.

Rajasthan-based folk artiste Rapperiya Baalam is preparing to send a legal notice to Excel Entertainment over the use of his song Shoorveer, which he claimed has been used without his permission or credit in the Pankaj Tripathi, Ali Fazal, and Divyenndu-led crime drama.

According to Baalam, Shoorveer appears to have reached Gurmmeet Singh’s directorial feature through the distributor and the broader rights chain. “They have used the song through the distributor, the distribution rights and registrar, and True Music/Virtual Planet. But permission is [a crucial] thing. Nobody came to ask me. My voice and song have been used, and there is no credit. We already emailed Excel, we’ll send a legal notice as well,” he told mid-day.

The artiste’s larger concern is the manner in which Shoorveer — created originally by him along with Rajneesh Jaipuri and Honey Trouper — has been used on Divyenndu’s character Munna in Mirzapur: The Movie. “Shoorveer is a song about Maharana Pratap Singh’s valour, history, and the emotions attached to that legacy. Now you are using it in a situation involving Munna Bhaiyya. I have a major problem with that. To see it get used like this hurts me and I want it taken down from the film,” he asserted.

Baalam, who learnt about the song’s inclusion only when the film released on September 4, underlined that financial settlement is not what he is seeking. “I want my song out of the movie. I am not sitting here saying, ‘Give me money and everything is fine.’ This is not a money issue.”

mid-day reached out to Excel Entertainment, which remained unavailable for comment.

Don’t be surprised if you see another avatar of Ranbir Kapoor minutes before ‘Ramayana: Part 1’ plays out on the big screen. Word is that the teaser of Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s ‘Love & War’ — starring Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, and Vicky Kaushal — will be attached to filmmaker Nitesh Tiwari’s epic.

Initially, the plan was to unveil the romantic drama’s teaser on September 28, coinciding with Kapoor’s birthday. However, that plan has apparently been scrapped, with a different asset drop lined up for the actor’s birthday.

A source close to the development told mid-day, “The September 28 plan is not achievable as the final schedule of ‘Love & War’ got over only in the first week of September. Now, Bhansali sir wants to give the teaser a theatrical launch instead, and ‘Ramayana: Part 1’ provides the perfect platform. It’s one of the biggest films of Indian cinema, and with Ranbir being the lead in both projects, the teaser of ‘Love & War’ can create the impact the makers are looking for.”

While the teaser will be out in November, the trailer is expected to drop in late December before its January 2027 release.

Sure, Sunny Deol’s cop thriller, Antony, promises action galore. But there’s more to director Balaji Ganesh’s film than that. Think a powerful antagonist who is also something of a twinkletoes. mid-day has learnt that Vijay Varma, who plays Deol’s arch rival in Antony, shot a dance number set against the backdrop of a circus.

Apparently, the idea behind the song is to establish his character’s backstory. A source revealed, “The dance track is part of Vijay’s act as a circus artiste. Composed by Salim-Sulaiman, it has been designed by National Award-winning choreographer Vijay Ganguly. The track is a slow reveal; by the end of it, the audience will be shown more about Vijay’s character, where he is from, and his ill-intentions.”

A huge set depicting a circus was constructed in Marol, Andheri East, for the shoot.

With a chunk of the shoot wrapped up, now only a montage song featuring Deol and Jyotika is remaining.

Mumbai: India's content business is entering a new phase as tightening margins across television and streaming push creators and production houses to look beyond traditional commissioning models and build and monetize their own intellectual property, with YouTube emerging as a key destination for premium, long-form originals.

Ekta Kapoor's Balaji Telefilms partnered with YouTube to launch five long-form fiction shows, following the video-sharing platform's collaboration with Aamir Khan on the 2025 film Sitaare Zameen Par. YouTube is also in talks with other production houses for exclusive programming. Producers see the model as a way to experiment with formats while retaining IP and monetization rights, signalling a broader shift in India's content economy. Applause Entertainment and Swastik Productions also launched YouTube-led offerings.

Balaji Telefilms' tieup with YouTube is an early example of this shift. The companies are launching five premium original shows spanning 200 episodes, including Haq Se Season 2, Phir Pyar Ki Yeh Kahani Suno and Kehne Ko Humsafar Hai Season 4, with other projects under development.

The slate will be produced in 4K and made available globally. Kapoor will lead the creative vision and retain ownership of the IP, while YouTube will provide global distribution and monetization pathways through advertising and brand deals.

The partnership comes as producers increasingly look to own and build IPs rather than produce shows purely on a commissioned basis. Kapoor said the move addresses a gap between linear television and premium subscription platforms.

"Television is now catering to the older, immobile family viewer and the subscription-led apps cater to a very niche audience and a very high-paying audience which young Indians maybe sometimes can't afford," Kapoor told ET. Building fiction while owning the IP is the "need of the hour" and gives her greater risk-taking ability in storytelling, she said.

YouTube's growing presence on connected television is central to that opportunity. The platform has more than 75 million adults watching YouTube on connected TV in India, according to YouTube India managing director Gunjan Soni. The scale of connected TV is creating opportunities well beyond a single content category, Soni said.

"Connected TVs themselves have scale. When you already have 75 million-plus adults watching on the larger screen, it is creating opportunities for different players across different verticals," Soni said.

Audiences increasingly want the "best of both worlds" - on-demand viewing and premium content on larger screens, she said. Her comments point to connected TV becoming an increasingly important distribution layer for premium, long-form content.

The shift is also visible among established television personalities. Shekhar Suman, who previously hosted the talk show Movers and Shakers, has taken his new show, Shekhar Tonite, to YouTube.

"YouTube allowed us to speak directly to the audience without being restricted by time slots, programming formulas or the pressure to shape every conversation around conventional ratings," Suman said.

Filmmaker Priyadarshan reunites with actor Akshay Kumar for their upcoming film Haiwaan, also starring Saif Ali Khan, but the genre marks a shift for the duo known for their iconic comedies.

Talking about taking the different route, Priyadarshan says, “Films should not become repetitive. I believe that when you see films like Pad Man, Rustom, and all those films, you see Akshay Kumar is capable of doing other kinds of movies also, not only comedy and those films are successful. I was not planning to do this film with Akshay, but Akshay himself insisted that he has never played a psycho. I thought he was kidding, but he said I'm serious about it,” he says.

Having two actors of such stature together is a casting coup in today’s time and the filmmaker agrees it couldn’t have been possible in the actors of today’s generation.

“Yes, that is true. I have worked with Akshay and Govinda, Ajay Devgn and Akshaye Khanna, but there were never any issues because there were no ego problems between them. They both knew that they have a lead role and they have enough meat for themselves. But the new generation is very insecure. They always want to know what the other person is doing. They don't want to know what they are doing,” he says.

Haiwaan marks Priyadarshan and Akshay’s ninth film together. Ask him about how their equation has evolved over the course of these films, and the filmmaker says, “It is about our trust in each other. He never questions me. He will just come to the shot and ask what you want me to do and just do it. I am also very careful about what I am doing with him. I think this is what has worked for both of us. He has got a blind belief in me, and it gives me the responsibility that I should not let him down.”

The film also becomes poignant for Priyadarshan to break an image as his name has become synonymous to the comedy genre.

“I started my career with serious films like Virasat (1997), after Hera Pheri (2000), this comedy brand came on my head. But at the same time, fortunately, I have been making serious movies too in the South. Something unusual is always attractive, so I thought, this time let me try something different. Haiwaan is not a dark film and there's enough for you to laugh in between too. But it is a very emotional film. I always prefer films for family, so a family can watch Haiwaan together too,” he ends.