Ustaad Bhagat Singh box office collection day 1: Pawan Kalyan film drowns in Dhurandhar 2 tsunami, opens at ₹31 crore

Ustaad Bhagat Singh box office collection day 1: Pawan Kalyan's action entertainer clashed at the box office with Ranveer Singh's Dhurandhar The Revenge.

Ustaad Bhagat Singh box office collection day 1: It was Dhurandhar 2 that swept audiences away on March 19, as the much-awaited sequel from Aditya Dhar arrived in theatres. But Ugadi also saw the release of a Telugu film, the only title that dared clash with the Bollywood spy thriller. Pawan Kalyan returned to the big screen in Ustaad Bhagat Singh, a mass action thriller. However, the film’s collections were clearly impacted by the clash with Dhurandhar: The Revenge, as evidenced by its box office receipts.

Ustaad Bhagat Singh box office collection day 1: Pawan Kalyan stars in this action entertainer.

Ustaad Bhagat Singh box office update

Ustaad Bhagat Singh opened on Thursday with domestic collections of around ₹31.50 crore net. While this may seem like a big number in isolation, one must understand that Telugu mass action films featuring A-list stars routinely open at over ₹50 crore. Pawan Kalyan’s previous film - OG - had an opening day of ₹90 crore, almost thrice as much as Ustaad Bhagat Singh. Ustaad Bhagat Singh registered occupancy of around 70% in the Telugu states.

Dhurandhar 2 wipes out Ustaad Bhagat Singh

In comparison, Dhurandhar 2 registered over 75% occupancy in the region, according to early trade estimates. The film’s Telugu dub alone earned over ₹2 crore net on the day, while the Hindi version also brought in sizable returns. While final numbers are not in yet, trade insiders estimate that Dhurandhar 2 earned over ₹25 crore in the Telugu states, through both its Hindi and Telugu versions. In many centres in urban Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, Dhurandhar 2 was the audience’s first choice even over the ‘local’ hero’s film. Dhurandhar 2 earned ₹102 crore net across India on Wednesday, the highest single-day collection by a Bollywood film.

All about Ustaad Bhagat Singh

Directed by Harish Shankar and produced by Mythri Movie Makers, Ustaad Bhagat Singh stars Pawan Kalyan in the titular role. Said to be a remake of Vijay’s Tamil hit Theri, the film also stars Sreeleela, Raashii Khanna and R. Parthiban. The film was earlier slated for release later in the month, but the makers moved it to Ugadi after Yash’s pan-India film vacated that slot to avoid a clash with Dhurandhar 2. However, it seems the move did not pay off for the Pawan Kalyan-starrer.