Salaar Dominates Box Office with Record-Breaking Opening
Prabhas’s film, Salaar, has made a significant impact at the box office on its first day. The movie achieved the biggest opening of 2023, surpassing films like Shah Rukh Khan’s Pathaan and Jawan, Thalapathy Vijay’s Leo, Sunny Deol’s Gadar 2, and Ranbir Kapoor’s Animal. Salaar now stands as the Indian film with the biggest opening of the year. Compared to Shah Rukh Khan’s Dunki, which released a day earlier, Salaar earned double its first-day collection.
Salaar’s First Day Collections Across Languages
On its opening day, Salaar garnered approximately ₹70 crore in gross collection from the Telugu states (Andhra Pradesh and Telangana). Tamil Nadu contributed a gross collection of ₹9 crore, while Kerala saw a first-day collection of approximately ₹5 crore. In Karnataka, the film achieved a gross collection of around ₹23 crore. Despite receiving fewer screens in North India due to Dunki’s release, Salaar collected approximately ₹25 crore gross from this market on its first day.
All India and Worldwide Opening Day Gross
The first-day all-India gross collection for Salaar, across its five languages (Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada), reached ₹133 crore. The film also performed strongly in the overseas market, securing a first-day gross collection of approximately ₹35 crore. This brings Salaar’s total first-day worldwide gross collection to ₹168 crore.
Breaking 2023 Opening Day Records
Salaar’s first-day worldwide gross of ₹168 crore establishes it as the film with the biggest opening of 2023. This collection surpassed Thalapathy Vijay’s Leo, which previously held the record with approximately ₹148 crore on its first day. Salaar also broke the first-day collection records of Shah Rukh Khan’s Jawan (₹106 crore) and Pathaan (₹130 crore). Furthermore, it exceeded the opening day collection of Prabhas’s own film, Adipurush, which had earned ₹140 crore on its first day.
Screen Count and Budget Details
Salaar was released globally on approximately 6500 screens across its five languages (Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada). In comparison, Dunki was released on 7500 screens. Salaar’s total budget is ₹400 crore, with ₹50 crore allocated for film promotion.
Pre-Release Recovery and Future Projections
Before its theatrical release, Salaar’s makers had already recovered a significant portion of the budget. The digital rights for all five languages were sold for ₹50 crore, satellite rights for ₹110 crore, and worldwide theatrical rights for ₹345 crore. Cumulatively, the makers recovered ₹705 crore from digital, satellite, and theatrical rights, exceeding the film’s ₹400 crore budget prior to its release. Based on its performance, the film’s final box office collection is projected to reach at least ₹1000 crore. Whether it will surpass Jawan’s worldwide collection of approximately ₹1100 crore to become the biggest blockbuster of 2023 remains to be seen.