DRISHYAM 2 recorded the third best opening post the pandemic behind the two event films BRAHMASTRA and SOORYAVANSHI as it collected around 15 crore nett on day one. The film collected very well in North to record good numbers in Delhi NCR and East Punjab by the end of the day while Gujarat and Maharashtra was scoring very good collections from the morning.

The film had both the key areas of Mumbai/Gujarat and North on board by the evening which all goes well for a good box office run as when these are on board its practically most of India which is on board. The opening is the fourth best ever for Ajay Devgn after SINGHAM RETURNS, GOLMAAL AGAIN and TOTAL DHAMAAL with the first two named opening on national holidays.

The numbers are totally unexpected as it would have been good if the film got into double digits the way the advance was going till Wednesday. But the movement on the last day before release was extraordinary and even better than what used to be seen before the pandemic. There is no doubt that the franchise value has helped as the film in this zone should not be opening 40-50% more than the likes of SAMRAT PRITHVIRAJ, SHAMSHERA and VIKRAM VEDHA.

The advances are good for the weekend. So that 50 crore nett mark looks there for the film at a minimum but there is potential to go higher.

The top five openings post the pandemic for original Hindi films is as follows. So far there have been ten films to hit double digits post the pandemic and if the finals of DRISHYAM 2 hit 15 crore, then there will 3 films above 15 crore nett.

1. Brahmastra - 30,37,00,000

2. Sooryavanshi - 26,11,00,000

4. Ram Setu - 14,84,00,000

5. Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 - 13,41,00,000 

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DRISHYAM 2 scored in overseas as well as in India with collections in the $700k region which includes Thursday numbers from UAE. It will be a comfortable $2 million plus weekend for the film and the only Ajay Devgn films to achieve this are TOTAL DHAMAAL, GOLMAAL AGAIN, SINGHAM RETURNS, RAAJNEETI and GOLMAAL 3. DRISHYAM 2 should do around $2.5 million for the weekend.

The film looks on course for possibly the third best opening for Ajay Devgn in overseas markets. The film has recorded good collections in all markets. The film should beat the opening weekend numbers of BHOOL BHULAIYAA 2 and JUGJUGG JEEYO which are more overseas friendly but that matters less in todays age as when a film does well in India it does overlap into the overseas audience even though genre may be weaker for that audience.

The film collected around $275k in USA/Canada with Gulf around $260k while United Kingdom grossed and Australia was a solid A$90k. These four main markets contributed almost $635k and the rest $75k would be coming from other smaller markets.

The film should hold well and a market like USA/Canada could even have a solid long run as strong content in this genre should find takers there.