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Box Office Preview: Pushpa expected to emerge Allu Arjun's biggest opener till date
Allu Arjun is all set to better his own opening day record set by Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo.
Former “non-Baahubali grosser” Rangasthalam’s director and current “non-Baahubali grosser” Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo’s star are releasing their next, Pushpa, this weekend. December is considered a very hot box office month across most film industries, but Telugu film industry isn’t one of those, we generally don’t see big Telugu films releasing this time of the year. However, with CoVID shutdown creating a huge backlog of releases, the usual release calendars are all up in the air. There is always a first, so maybe this is how it starts for the Telugu film industry. Month started pretty hot for industry with Akhanda breaking the ice, Pushpa will be hoping to continue the winning run.
The film is looking to take a big opening on Friday, career best start for Allu Arjun, with Rs. 23-25 crore opening day share expected in Telugu states. Currently AVPL is the biggest opener for the actor at Rs. 22 crore, which came on a much smaller release due to clash with Mahesh Babu’s Sarileru Neekevarru. Here the external factor hurting the film will be reduced ticket prices in Coastal Andhra, which will be contracted due to lack of ticket hikes and early show, otherwise a Rs. 30 crore opening day share was certain. Nizam will be the top performer, with the industry expectations of a new opening day record of Rs. 10 crore plus. This is despite Spider-man: No Way Home taking a large amount of showings in Hyderabad city, including the famous Prasads Large Screen. 
The film has a very big ground to cover however, made even tougher by the looming issues around ticket prices and compliance, but if the reports are positive, with holidays to come in coming weeks, this can strike gold. You can read about the pre-release business of the film and ticketing issues here.
The film is touted as a PAN India film, but most numbers will be coming from the usual Telugu hotspots. There is little awareness for the Hindi version of film up North and will be depending on word of mouth to get any sort of numbers. Though in pockets of Central and Eastern India film is getting a very encouraging amount of inquiries, and that will be something to watch out for. The situation is much better in Kerala, where Allu Arjun has a very good niche for himself despite Telugu films not being too hot in the state, with film recording good pre-sales and can have good movement on the day. However, there are doubts on content delivery on time tomorrow for other than Telugu versions of film, with morning and noon shows cancelled at many centres while advance booking is put on hold at others.
ALSO READ: Akhanda Has a strong 2nd weekend; Crosses Rs 100 Crore globally - First for NBK
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