Shruti Suman
Prabhas appears to be making a highly anticipated comeback with his latest film, the action-thriller Salaar. Directed by Prashanth Neel, the pan-India movie is competing at the box office with Shah Rukh Khan’s Dunki, and it is surpassing Dunki’s performance with ease. While Dunki debuted with approximately Rs 30 crore on its opening day, Salaar has already secured nearly Rs 50 crore in advance sales for its first day, which is today.
As per the early reports from the trade website Sacnilk, Salaar’s advance sales across various languages and regions total around Rs 49 crore. The Telugu version is leading with approximately Rs 38 crore, followed by the Hindi version with advance sales of Rs 5.6 crore. The Malayalam version has sold tickets worth Rs 2.2 crore so far, while the Tamil and Kannada versions have registered advance sales of Rs 1.8 crore and Rs 56 lakh, respectively.
Although Prashanth Neel has primarily worked in the Kannada film industry, gaining recognition for his two KGF blockbusters, Prabhas maintains a strong presence in the Telugu states. Unlike the recent film Animal, which garnered interest in both the Hindi belt due to star Ranbir Kapoor and in the Telugu regions due to director Sandeep Reddy Vanga, Salaar is evidently drawing audiences based on Prabhas’ star power.
Prabhas continues to be a formidable force at the box office, despite not delivering a hit since his consecutive successes with the Baahubali films. Subsequent big-budget films like Saaho, Radhe Shyam, and Adipurush did not perform as expected. His upcoming project is the dystopian thriller Kalki 2898 AD, featuring Deepika Padukone, Amitabh Bachchan, and Kamal Haasan.
Meanwhile, Shah Rukh Khan’s Dunki is facing somewhat lukewarm reviews and underwhelming box office returns, potentially posing challenges for its long-term impact. The movie marks Shah Rukh’s lowest opening of the year, trailing behind Jawan and Pathaan, and falling short of director Rajkumar Hirani’s Sanju.
Khushi Sikarwar
