Despite being a non-holiday and non-festival season release, director Shankar’s magnum opus 2.0 starring Rajinikanth and Akshay Kumar has set the box office on fire with a Day 1 collection of about ₹74 crore (gross) across the country.

However, the movie, which was tipped to beat the box-office records of Director SS Rajamouli’s monumental epic Baahubali-2 The Conclusion released in 2017, fell way short of the period film’s first-day gross collection of approximately ₹155 crore. This despite the fact that 2.0 has been released in 1,500 screens more than Baahubali-2 . The sci-fi thriller, however, has bettered the all-India box-office collection of Aamir Khan’s Thugs of Hindostan (₹63.5 crore gross) to report the highest opening for any movie in 2018.

Out of the ₹74 crore, the Hindi version of 2.0 contributed about ₹21 crore, while collections from Tamil Nadu stood at ₹20 crore.

Collections from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana combined amounted to ₹19 crore, and Karnataka and Kerala accounted for ₹8 crore and ₹5.5 crore, respectively.

Ticket price cap

“Keeping in mind the fact that it’s a dubbed film plus advance bookings opened very late, the biz is STRONG... Thu ₹20.25 cr. India biz. Note: HINDI version,” tweeted movie critic and trade analyst Taran Adarsh. Experts also attributed the lower collection to the cap on ticket prices in Tamil Nadu.

The global collection of 2.0 , which was released in over 10,500 screens, crossed ₹100 crore on the first day, making it the second movie to achieve the feat after Baahubali-2 (₹217 crore).

Message well received

The film is based on the ill-effects of cell phone radiation on birds and the possible impact that it could have on crop production. This has ruffled the feathers of the cell phone service providers who have approached the CBFC, seeking revocation of the censor certificate.

But the movie appears to have been well received by the public given its social message and impressive graphics.

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