Pushpa 2 mania grips box office, clocks Rs 291 crore in four days, pipping Jawan, Pathaan

With over 2.2 million admissions recorded on its release day, the film achieved one of the highest-grossing days in Cinepolis India’s history, said Devang Sampat, Managing Director, Cinepolis India.

In its first weekend, Pushpa 2: The Rule has become the fastest movie to cross 10 million tickets sold on BookMyShow. "Single screens are punching above their weight contributing to 45 percent of ticket sales for the Allu Arjun-helmed action drama," said Ashish Saksena, COO - Cinemas, BookMyShow.

The sequel to the 2021 release is rewriting the record books and setting a new benchmark in the Hindi film industry, said film trade analyst Taran Adarsh. He termed the movie a tsunami, a hurricane and a typhoon at the box office.

Setting new benchmarks

The film, originally made in Telugu but also released in Hindu, Malayalam, Tamil, Kannada and Bengali versions, has collected around Rs 540 crore in all languages. It is estimated to have crossed Rs 800 crore at the worldwide box office in four days.

"Pushpa 2 is the highest release for an Indian film with over 12,000 screens globally, it is the highest IMAX release globally, it has hit the double century globally in GBOC (gross box office collections), the film is the highest Hindi opener, the highest non-holiday start, the movie is the highest any language non-holiday record then also the highest grossing Allu Arjun, Rashmika Mandanna and Sukumar movie. The movie has broken 10-15 records," said Girish Johar, producer and film trade expert.

He added that ticket prices for Pushpa 2 are the highest, which is likely to be reworked for the southern market and prices are expected to be lowered.

"Pushpa 2 is not a straight Hindi film but its Hindi version numbers are unprecedented and it is being fronted by the Hindi mass audience. Hindi is higher than other language versions in the overall pie. The Hindi version is contributing over 60 percent to Pushpa 2’s overall numbers and is leading. It is now eyeing all-time numbers for the biggest Hindi film. Mass centres are clocking 90 percent occupancy and in multiplexes it is close to 70 percent. For the film fraternity, Pushpa 2’s success rings a loud bell that they need to wake up and smell the coffee," Johar added.

Akshaye Rathi, film exhibitor and director, Saroj Screens, agreed. "It (Pushpa 2) is well on its way to become the biggest Hindi movie. The response for the movie has been euphoric. For single-screen exhibitors, we live to witness hundreds of people celebrating cinemas and this is what we witnessed every four hours over three-four days. We have seen long queues outside cinemas and big crowds inside auditoriums celebrating the movie. For every third or fourth show, there are a bunch of fans coming in garlanding the standees in North India. The way people are dancing in the aisles in cinemas—this is the first time it's happening this year. Last year we saw it for Gadar 2 and Animal."

Even on a working Thursday, markets such as Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha, and Rajasthan saw occupancy levels exceeding 90 percent, noted Sampat. He added that cinemas in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana reported near 100 percent occupancy, with screenings starting as early as 6 AM.

Pushpa 2 is the best of the year so far in terms of business from just its Hindi version, said Vishek Chauhan, who runs single-screen Roopbani Cinema in Bihar’s Purnea district.

"It is one of the best openings we have seen since Animal, Gadar 2 and Jawan" said, adding that while it has primarily male turnout, there have been inquiries from women. "So, it won't be like an Animal or KGF 2 as female and family audiences will come out in good numbers in the coming weeks because the word of mouth is good. There is nothing running apart from Pushpa 2 in theatres currently. The Hindi version for the first week is expected to earn Rs 400 crore or even touch Rs 500 crore because it is an open run till Baby John comes and the holiday season is ongoing. Pushpa 2 is looking at a huge total. It could go past the Rs 700 crore mark just from the Hindi version."

In multiplex chain Mukta A2 Cinemas, there has been a sharp increase in occupancy levels, especially during the opening weekend, with several shows running housefull, said Rahul Puri, MD, Mukta A2 Cinemas.

It could turn out to be a pan-India show. While the movie is being called a box office phenomenon in Hindi-speaking markets, its other language versions are also being received well like the one in Malayalam.

Reni Varughese, an exhibitor from Kerala who runs a five-screen property called MY Cinemas, said that his theatres have recorded 80-90 percent occupancy for the morning shows. "The average occupancy has been 60-70 percent. For evening shows, occupancy reached 100 percent and for late evening shows occupancy was 80-90 percent. We have been running a marathon since Pushpa 2's release. We were running seven to eight shows on one screen. We did 50-60 shows on day one of Pushpa 2's release which is almost equal to Mohanlal’s movies. We do the highest number of shows for Mohanlal films and the same number we did for Pushpa 2. Allu Arjun (the lead actor) has a good fan following in Kerala so he is attracting both youngsters as well as family audience," he added.

Pushpa 2 has come as a big relief to cinema chains, both single-screen and multiplexes, as they had been facing tough times, especially in the first six months of 2024.

"Pushpa 2 is proving to be a game changer for cinemas. After a challenging year for the industry, this release has reignited the magic of cinema. Its pan-India appeal and blockbuster potential are drawing audiences back to theatres in large numbers," Puri said.

He added that until the Diwali season, the cinema industry had its fair share of challenges, including a lack of consistent blockbuster content, changing audience preferences and economic pressures. Cinema occupancy continue to be 20-25 percent lower than pre-covid levels.

The October-December quarter is poised to be a different ball game for PVR INOX, said Dutta. "With the exceptional start delivered by Pushpa 2 and a promising slate of festive and holiday releases, this period could become the highest-grossing quarter of 2024. If the momentum from Pushpa 2 carries forward and other releases perform well, this quarter could offset the year's earlier setbacks and emerge as a pivotal period for revenue growth," he added.

He pointed out that if current trends continue, Pushpa 2 could set the tone for a strong year-end recovery and attract viewers back to theatres in large numbers, helping offset earlier losses.

According to Sampat, while the industry faced a 10 percent dip compared to 2023 earlier in the year, the final quarter is expected to deliver remarkable revenue growth.

"The October-December quarter is on track to become one of the best in terms of revenue for Cinepolis, potentially surpassing Q3 2023, our highest-ever quarter in attendance and revenue. If this momentum continues, 2024 could match or even exceed the performance of last year," he said.

Still in survival mode

However, one blockbuster-wonder cannot change fortunes, said a few exhibitors.

Pushpa 2 has started covering some losses but the they were huge this year, said  Ashutosh Agarwal, director at Starworld Cinemas. "If the Varun Dhawan-starrer Baby John clicks, then we can expect some offset in the impact of dull periods seen in 2024," he said.

"This year we have been struggling. PVR INOX suffered losses," Chauhan said.

"If the biggest cinema player has seen tough times then imagine the plight of smaller chains and single screens. In 2023, we had Pathaan, Jawan, Gadar 2, Animal and Dunki, among others. This year till now the only film we can talk about is Stree 2," he added.

"We can cut our losses or hopefully we can break-even. December is looking good with Baby John and Mufasa. If Pushpa 2 becomes an all-time hit and if Baby John and Mufasa together bring around Rs 300-400 crore, then that would make December a blockbuster and we will have minimal losses for 2024," Chauhan said.

"October-December period is turning out to be one of the better periods and is bringing survival air for exhibitors because this year we had so many underperformers that so many people were losing confidence in the business and were holding onto the last few straws to continue. Such success stories will encourage many exhibitors to continue with their business," said Rathi.