Box Office: Could We See 'Sooryavanshi' + 'Vakeel Saab' For 'RRR' In Theatres?

Why SS Rajamouli's 'RRR' could open with a historic, record breaking box-office number in January.

Rohit Shetty's Sooryavanshi starring Akshay Kumar and Katrina Kaif was just what the doctor ordered for the Hindi film industry which has been in a disastrous state post the COVID-19 pandemic. Producers, exhibitors and distributors are collectively heaving a sigh of relief with the film having collected around Rs 77 crore in its first weekend.

Sooryavanshi has brought the audience back into theatres with a vengeance. The film has set a new record for being the highest 3-day weekend earner for an Akshay Kumar film. But if the box office collections of Sooryavanshi and Telugu film Vakeel Saab and Tamil films Master and Annaatthe are what they are - there'll be more reason to cheer in January 2022.

Though Shetty's unabashed commercial action cop drama didn't really get a thumbs up from critics, it collected Rs 26.29 crore on its opening day, registering it as the second highest Day 1 earner for a film lead by Akshay. Here's a look at the highest Day 1 collections for an Akshay film so far:

• Mission Mangal - Rs 29.16 crore

• Sooryavanshi - Rs 26.29 crore

• Gold - Rs 25.25 crore

• Kesari - Rs 21.25 crore

With a huge jump of Rs 26.94 crore on Sunday from Rs 23.85 on Saturday, Sooryavanshi became the biggest weekend opener for the actor. Here's a look at some of Akshay's big weekend openings.

• Mission Mangal - Rs 97.56 crore (4-day weekend)

• Kesari - Rs 78.07 crore (4-day weekend)

• Sooryavanshi - Rs 77.08 crore

• Housefull 4 - Rs 53.22 crore

While the collections of Sooryavanshi are definitely something to celebrate, what's more interesting is that even though Khiladi Kumar's film had a massive 3000+ screen opening in India, it still ranks much lower than the Day 1 collections of Pawan Kalyan's Telugu blockbuster Vakeel Saab, which released in early April this year. It also ranks lower than the Tamil film Master starring Vijay, which released in January. A more recent example - Sooryavanshi's Day 1 was also lower than the collections of Rajinikanth's new release Annaatthe. Here's a look at the highest Day 1 net collections from this year:

• Vakeel Saab - Rs 40.10 crore

• Master - Rs 34.80 crore

• Annaatthe - Rs 29.90 crore

• Sooryavanshi - Rs 26.29 crore

Though the Tamil and Telugu film industries have a smaller market compared to the Hindi one, the box-office collections of some of their big releases have been mind boggling. Despite releasing in a lesser number of screens compared to their Bollywood counterparts, Tamil and Telugu films see a huge number of footfalls in theatres. The culture of mainstream cinema and fan frenzy for some of the stars ensure that their films almost always have record breaking openings. Now imagine the biggies from Hindi and Telugu film industries joining forces.

If the above numbers are any indication of how things are beginning to look up, the biggest forthcoming release will undoubtedly be SS Rajamouli's RRR. Coming from the man behind the Baahubali franchise there is already a lot of expectations from his next. To top the post-Baahubali hype, RRR stars two of Telugu cinema's biggest stars, NTR Jr and Ram Charan along with two big names from Bollywood - Ajay Devgn and Alia Bhatt.

RRR is a fictional tale weaved around two real life Indian revolutionaries - Alluri Sitarama Raju and Komaram Bheem, who fought against the British and Nizam of Hyderabad.

Keeping in mind the stardom of NTR Jr, Ram Charan, Ajay Devgn, Alia Bhatt + the nationalistic theme of the film + the fact that it's written by KV Vijayendra Prasad and directed by SS Rajamouli + the legacy of Baahubali - the estimated opening of RRR could well be nothing short of historic.

Just the fact that the first look of NTR Jr and Ram Charan from RRR have 60 million views each should give you an idea of how much the film is anticipated. Think of a combination of Sooryavanshi + Vakeel Saab's opening day collections because the film is scheduled to release in Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam.

Though there is a lot of buzz around 83, Bunty Aur Babli 2 and Gangubai Kathiawadi (which btw releases on the same day as RRR), it could well be SS Rajamouli's epic period saga that gives the Indian film industry the much needed shot in the arm. Here's looking forward to 7 January.