MUMBAI: The much-awaited and much-talked-about sequel to Sunny Deol's 2001 blockbuster film Gadar, the second instalment, 'Gadar 2' opened with a bang on Friday and breaking the single screen record it delivered the second-biggest opening of 2023. 

With an overall occupancy of nearly 60% on the first day, the sequel earned Rs 40 crore on its opening day in theatres across the country with a strong advance booking for the weekend. Trade analysts are of the opinion that it will be one of the only film franchisees which would surpass the lifetime grossing of its first film within its first weekend itself. 

According to a Bollywood Hungama report, Gadar 2 could be looking at an opening weekend haul of Rs 120 crore, and Rs 175 crore over the extended Independence Day holiday weekend.

So far in the years, the higher grosser on an opening day has been Shah Rukh Khan’s Pathaan at Rs 55 crore, which also holds the record for the biggest Bollywood debut of all time, the second film which had a big first-day debut till date was big-budget mythological epic Adipurush at Rs 32 crore.

Gadar 2, clashes with two other releases which had garner significant interest Akshay Kumar starrer OMG 2 and Rajinikanth’s Hindi dubbed film, Jailer, while Karan Johar's Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani is also doing good, already having seen two successful weeks in theatres.

According to reports, OMG 2, which is also a franchisee film of the OMG series starring Akshay Kumar in an extended cameo along with Pankaj Tripathi and Yami Gautam has got an opening of Rs 10.26 crore on the first day, with a 37.53 per cent occupancy in theaters across the country. Bollywood trade analyst Taran Adarsh tweeted that OMG 2 fared 'much better than expected.' 

He said in his tweet, "Although the numbers are severely impacted by Gadar 2 wave...the film recorded better occupancy at prime multiplexes in evening and night shows, which should ensure solid growth over the weekend... Fri ₹ 10.26 cr. India biz."

Directed by Amit Rai, the 2012 film OMG had Akshay Kumar, Paresh Rawal, Mithun Chakraborty, Govind Namdev and late actor Om Puri in a special role. 

Nelson Dilipkumar's new film, starring Superstar Rajinikanth, 'Jailer' is a predominantly Tamil film, with a mass appeal in South India on the opening day according to reports garnered Rs 27 crore and still going strong in the Southern circuits.