Kuberaa box office collection day 1: The much-anticipated pan-India release Kuberaa, starring Dhanush, Nagarjuna, and Rashmika Mandanna, has made a notable impact on its opening day, despite mixed regional occupancy and a box office performance slightly lower than expected. According to industry tracker Sacnilk, Kuberaa opened with Rs 13 crore, which is slightly lesser than Dhanush’s last Tamil release Raayan as that film made around Rs 16 crore on its opening day. The film was shot in both Telugu and Tamil simultaneously, and was released in both these languages along with dubbed versions in Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi.
The Telugu-speaking regions led the charge, with the film recording an overall occupancy of 57.36%. Morning shows began modestly at 38.94%, but footfall increased steadily throughout the day, rising to 54.58% in the afternoon, 57.04% in the evening, and peaking impressively at 78.87% during night shows. In contrast, the film saw relatively low occupancy in other languages: 33.73% in Tamil Nadu, 6.54% in Karnataka, and just 6.73% in Hindi. Despite this, industry analysts are optimistic that Kuberaa could benefit from positive word-of-mouth and build momentum over the weekend.
This year has been a mixed bag for the Telugu and Tamil film industry so far. In Telugu, films like Game Changer, Daaku Maharaj and HIT: The Third Case released amid major hype. Shankar’s Game Changer, starring Ram Charan, opened with Rs 51 crore at the box office but managed to make Rs 131 cr, which was much lesser than its humungous budget. Nandamuri Balakrishna-starrer Daaku Maharaj made Rs 90 crore in the domestic market, after making around Rs 25 crore on opening day. Even Nani’s HIT: The Third Case made Rs 21 crore on the first day, but ended its run at around Rs 80 crore. In Tamil, Ajith’s Good Bad Ugly made Rs 153.18 crore after opening at Rs 29 crore. Kamal Haasan’s Thug Life, which was the most hyped film of the year, opened at around Rs 15 crore, and is yet to cross Rs 50 crore after two weeks in theatres.
Much of the buzz of Kuberaa surrounds Dhanush’s transformative performance as a beggar, which has drawn praise across social media for its rawness and emotional depth. Fans have also lauded Rashmika Mandanna and Nagarjuna for choosing unconventional, meaningful roles. The trio’s collaboration was a major factor driving pre-release hype. Adding a layer of emotional resonance to the film’s debut, Dhanush was spotted watching Kuberaa on opening day with his son, Linga. The actor was visibly moved by the crowd’s enthusiastic response.
