Box office: Ranbir Kapoor, Sandeep Reddy Vanga's Animal is set to enter 500 Crore Club

Animal, the Ranbir Kapoor and Rashmika Mandanna starrer, made Rs 338.63 crore in its first week in theatres. (Screen grab/YouTube/T-Series)

Yet another month, and yet another major film is pacing up well towards an entry into the 500 Crore Club. 2023 will go down as a record year for Bollywood - and not just in terms of post-pandemic records. One after another, Hindi films this year have been creating, shattering and re-making new all-time records. Clearly, if a film has done well this year, then it has done tremendously well by going through the roof. It was first seen with Shah Rukh Khan's Pathaan right at the start of the year. Then Sunny Deol bettered it with Gadar 2. Close on its heels came Jawan which went further ahead. And now it's Animal's turn.

Yes, Animal won't be able to challenge Jawan and then Pathaan would be tough as well. However, Gadar 2 records could well be in danger if Animal manages to get a run post the release of Christmas arrivals Dunki and Salaar, both of which are big ones.

That said, it has another frontier to cross before it aims for the big ones. The milestone it needs to rush towards is the 500 Crore Club, as that's the sign of prestige in the current times. To think of it, how the scenario has completely changed at the box office in the last few years because pre-pandemic, it was 300 Crore Club that was hard to step into and only a few superstars had managed to find their films there. Then came the horrible post-pandemic period when films struggled to reach even Rs 100 crore and just a few managed to score a double century.

However, 2023 has emerged as an altogether different beast with the Rs 500 crore mark being surpassed at will. There have also been a couple of 200 Crore Club entrants like Tiger 3 and The Kerala Story, while several centuries have been scored month after month which has ensured that Bollywood stays in business. However, as and when a film has clicked with the audiences, as is being seen again with Animal, big bucks are being earned.

This can well be seen from the fact that the Ranbir Kapoor starrer managed to have a stupendous first week of Rs 338.63 crores, which is just mind-blowing. That said, it isn't slowing down anytime soon since the second week has started on a terrific note too, what with Rs 24 crore more coming on Friday. To gather a day of over Rs 20 crore at the start of the second week is a feat in itself, and this Sandeep Reddy Vanga film has managed that in style.

The film has now reached a score of Rs 362.63 crore, and now it's about hitting that Rs 400 crore mark, something that should happen by tomorrow. The film is on a winning path right now and while it will cross Rs 450 crore also in a jiffy, it will need steady ticket sales on a daily basis for entry into the 500 Crore Club - going by current trends, this should be a breeze as well.

Note: All collections as per production and distribution sources