Salman Khan’s Sikandar fails to beat Chhaava, opens at ₹26 crore on Day 1

Salman Khan marked his return to Eid releases with Sikandar after a two-year hiatus. Directed by AR Murugadoss and featuring Rashmika Mandanna, the film hit theatres amid significant anticipation. However, the buzz surrounding Sikandar hasn't reached the levels of his past Eid releases. According to an update from entertainment portal Sacnilk, the film raked in ₹26 crore on its opening day, which happened to be a Sunday.

How did Sikandar perform at the opening day BO as compared to Chhaava?

This figure falls short of breaking any records and did not surpass the ₹31 crore opening day collection of Vicky Kaushal's Chhaava; the Vicky Kaushal-led historical actioner became a massive hit, breaking records and becoming the highest-grossing Hindi film of the year, with a worldwide collection of ₹781.87 crore.

Compared to Salman's previous films, which set high benchmarks, the 2016 release Sultan earned ₹36.54 crore, and Tiger 3, released in 2023, achieved a remarkable ₹53.3 crore on its opening day.

The report noted that Sikandar had a 20.95 percent occupancy rate for Hindi screenings on its first day. It'll be interesting to see how the film performs in the coming days and if it shows any significant growth. Early estimates suggest that Sikandar has already sold around 2.2 lakh tickets in the Hindi market alone, bringing in approximately ₹6.46 crore. When considering blocked seats, the film's total pre-release earnings have reached ₹13.53 crore. With over 8,000 Hindi shows across India, Sikandar appears poised for a solid opening on Sunday.

Sikandar will compete against Mohanlal’s Empuraan at the box office. Regarding this competition, Salman expressed, “This is the Mohanlal film? I love him as an actor. And Prithviraj (Sukumaran) is directing it? I think it’s an excellent film. It’s going to be a very good film.” He humorously added, “I request all MNCs to increase salaries this month and pay bonuses so that people can watch Empuraan, Sikander, and Jaat, which is also releasing soon (April 10).”

Sikandar’s business took a hit when as the film was leaked online on its opening day. According to reports, multiple illegal platforms, including Telegram groups, allegedly leaked the movie online and offered free streaming links.

"Last night when I was in the trade, I discovered the film had already been leaked. But I didn't tweet about it right away because I wanted to be 100 per cent sure. Sometimes only a few scenes are leaked, and if you call it a full leak, it can cause unnecessary panic," film trade analyst Komal Nahta told the press.

"This morning, I spoke to seven or eight people in the trade, and they confirmed that the film had been leaked. I was also told that Sajid Nadiadwala and the authorized team worked hard to remove the film from many piracy websites. But by then, the damage was already done. It spreads very fast," the analyst said.