#BoxOfficeCollection: 'Gadar 2' becomes 2023's second-biggest Bollywood opener
What's the story
Four decades after debuting with Betaab, which was released in August 1983, Sunny Deol has delivered his career's biggest opener with Gadar 2.
The sequel, which was released 22 years after Gadar: Ek Prem Katha (2001), has stormed the box office, becoming the second-biggest Bollywood opener of 2023 so far.
The film was released in the theaters on Friday.
Context
Why does this story matter?
Gadar 2 has been one of the highly anticipated films of 2023.
Featuring Deol and Ameesha Patel in the lead, as Tara Singh and Sakeena, it is possibly the only Indian film whose sequel came out two decades after the original movie.
Notably, it opened against Akshay Kumar and Pankaj Tripathi-led OMG 2 and is expected to break many records at the box office.
Box office day 1
'Gadar 2' beat 'OMG 2' on debut day
According to industry tracker Sacnilk, Gadar 2 debuted at the box office with Rs. 40 crore (early estimates). It registered an overall occupancy of 60% in the theaters.
The film beat OMG 2 by a huge margin, as the Kumar-led movie could rake in just over Rs. 9 crore on its opening day. The overall occupancy (Hindi) for OMG 2 was around 37.53%.
Records by 'Gadar 2'
'Gadar 2' set to make and break many records
Even before it was released theatrically, Gadar 2 had already stormed the box office with its advance bookings, wherein it sold over 2.7 lakh tickets by Thursday.
Though Shah Rukh Khan's Pathaan is still Bollywood's biggest 2023 opener, Gadar 2 reportedly beat it at the occupancy level in theaters on opening day.
Interestingly, it is also the first hit for Deol in 12 years.
About 'Gadar 2'
Everything to know about 'Gadar 2'
Directed by filmmaker Anil Sharma, Gadar 2 also served as a major platform for his son Utkarsh Sharma, who played Deol and Patel's son in the movie.
Along with this, actor Simrat Kaur, who essayed Muskaan, also made her Hindi film debut with Gadar 2.
The film is set against the backdrop of 1971's "Crush India" campaign during the Bangladesh Liberation War.
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