‘Toxic’ Sees Box Office Decline: Indian Films That Opened Huge Before Crashing

Written By: Entertainment Desk

Sep 03, 2026 16:26 IST ⓘ

Amid Toxic's underwhelming run, a look at 15 Indian films that opened spectacularly before suffering box-office declines.

A spectacular opening day can make a film look bulletproof. Advance bookings are everywhere, fan shows begin before breakfast and celebratory posters arrive before the popcorn has cooled. Then comes the real examination: will people keep buying tickets after the first wave has passed? As Indian cinema has repeatedly discovered, an opening is a launchpad – not a lifetime guarantee. That is what makes ‘Toxic: A Fairy Tale For Grown-Ups’ the film of the moment. Geetu Mohandas’ gangster drama, led by Yash alongside Nayanthara, Kiara Advani, Tara Sutaria, Huma Qureshi and Rukmini Vasanth, opened on 26 August 2026 with a mammoth Rs 101.10 crore net in India.

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Day two fell 62.76 per cent to Rs 37.65 crore, the first Monday brought Rs 7.65 crore and day eight added Rs 5.10 crore – a fall of almost 95 per cent from opening day. As of 3 September, the total stands at Rs 234.70 crore net in India and Rs 322 crore worldwide. That is still a substantial haul, and the Rs 500 crore film is still running in theatres, so a final verdict remains to be seen. The trend, however, is unmistakably front-loaded.

Amid Toxic’s underwhelming run, we decided to revisit 15 Indian films that opened spectacularly before suffering box-office declines.

1. Adipurush

Released: 16 June 2023 | Director: Om Raut | Main cast: Prabhas, Kriti Sanon, Saif Ali Khan | Reported budget: Rs 500 crore | Opening day: Rs 86.75 crore India net

For three days, ‘Adipurush’ appeared capable of outrunning almost any storm. Om Raut’s retelling of the ‘Ramayana’ followed its enormous Friday (Rs 86.75 crore India net) with Rs 65.25 crore on Saturday and Rs 69.10 crore on Sunday. Monday then arrived like a trapdoor: Rs 16 crore, a 76.85 per cent fall in a single day. The film eventually earned only a little more than three times its opening-day number in India. Its dialogue and visual-effects controversies dominated the conversation. The film eventually ended its worldwide run at Rs 393 crore with India net of Rs 288 crore.

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2. Thugs Of Hindostan

Released: 8 November 2018 | Director: Vijay Krishna Acharya | Main cast: Aamir Khan, Amitabh Bachchan, Katrina Kaif, Fatima Sana Shaikh | Reported budget: Rs 300 crore | Opening day: Rs 52.25 crore India net

An Aamir Khan-Amitabh Bachchan adventure arriving on Diwali looked less like a movie release and more like an appointment the entire country had accepted. ‘Thugs Of Hindostan’ duly set off fireworks on day one, but the smoke cleared quickly: day two dropped to Rs 29.25 crore, and by day five the film was down to Rs 5.50 crore. Its entire Indian run finished with Rs 151.30 crore net. The worldwide number received a later boost from China, but at home the Rs 300 crore film had already become the industry’s favourite warning against counting a blockbuster before the audience reviews it. It eventually ended its worldwide run at 327.51 crore.

3. War 2

Released: 14 August 2025 | Director: Ayan Mukerji | Main cast: Hrithik Roshan, Jr NTR, Kiara Advani, Anil Kapoor | Reported budget: Rs 400 crore | Opening day: Rs 52 crore India net

Two superstars, one established spy universe and an Independence Day weekend gave ‘War 2’ a suitably explosive start. It even rose to Rs 57.85 crore on Friday, but the mission began losing altitude after that: Saturday fell to Rs 33.25 crore and the first Monday landed at Rs 8.75 crore, down 73.2 per cent from Sunday. The final Rs 236.55 crore India net would be enviable for many films; against a reported Rs 400 crore cost and the expectations attached to Hrithik Roshan versus Jr NTR, it represented a distinctly underpowered finish. ‘War 2’ ended its underwhelming run at Rs 365 crore worldwide.

4. Game Changer

Released: 10 January 2025 | Director: S. Shankar | Main cast: Ram Charan, Kiara Advani | Reported budget: Rs 450 crore | Opening day: Rs 51 crore India net

The title turned prophetic, just not in the way its makers intended. Ram Charan’s first solo-led theatrical release after ‘RRR’ began at Rs 51 crore net across languages, powered overwhelmingly by Telugu markets. By Saturday, that number had shrunk to Rs 21.60 crore; the film ultimately failed to triple its opening day in India. Shankar’s political action drama had the stars, songs and scale of a festival juggernaut, yet the theatrical run became a spectacular illustration of hype exhausting itself before the first weekend had finished. Sacnilk listed its India net run at Rs 131.20 crore and Rs 186 crore worldwide.

5. Radhe Shyam

Released: 11 March 2022 | Director: Radha Krishna Kumar | Main cast: Prabhas, Pooja Hegde | Reported budget: Rs 300-350 crore | Opening day: Rs 43.10 crore India net

Prabhas as a world-famous palmist, Pooja Hegde as the woman who makes him question destiny and Europe dressed for a luxury perfume commercial – ‘Radhe Shyam’ had romance on an operatic scale. Telugu fans supplied a Rs 43.10 crore launch, but fate apparently forgot to book the second week. Saturday fell to Rs 24.60 crore, the first Monday collapsed to Rs 4.90 crore and week two contributed only Rs 3.45 crore. By the end, nearly 41 per cent of its India net had arrived on day one alone. The movie made only Rs 104.38 crore in India net and Rs 149.50 crore worldwide.

6. Acharya

Released: 29 April 2022 | Director: Koratala Siva | Main cast: Chiranjeevi, Ram Charan, Pooja Hegde | Reported budget: Rs 140 crore | Opening day: Rs 37.10 crore India net

If front-loading were an Olympic event, ‘Acharya’ would have arrived with the podium already reserved. The Chiranjeevi-Ram Charan combination produced Rs 37.10 crore on Friday, but Saturday sank to Rs 8.70 crore and Monday brought just Rs 97 lakh. The opening day alone supplied roughly two-thirds of the film’s lifetime India net – an extraordinary collapse for a movie uniting two generations of Telugu stardom. Its nine-day tracked total stopped at Rs 56.14 crore, leaving that first-day celebration looking like a different film’s success party. The film’s worldwide total stood at Rs 73.50 crore.

7. Race 3

Released: 15 June 2018 | Director: Remo D’Souza | Main cast: Salman Khan, Anil Kapoor, Bobby Deol, Jacqueline Fernandez | Reported budget: Rs 170 crore | Opening day: Rs 29.17 crore India net

To be precise, ‘Race 3’ was not the financial crater some titles on this list became: Sacnilk classified it as an average performer, and Rs 300 crore worldwide is real business. Its trajectory, however, was classic festival front-loading. The Salman Khan thriller climbed to Rs 38.14 crore and Rs 39.16 crore over the Eid weekend, then fell to Rs 14.24 crore on Monday and Rs 3.30 crore by its second Friday. Week two was 83.7 per cent below week one. Its India net stood at Rs 169.50 crore.

8. Sikandar

Released: 30 March 2025 | Director: A.R. Murugadoss | Main cast: Salman Khan, Rashmika Mandanna, Kajal Aggarwal | Reported budget: Rs 200 crore | Opening day: Rs 26 crore India net

‘Sikandar’ technically improved on its opening, earning Rs 29 crore on its Eid Monday, so this was not a one-day ambush. The retreat began immediately afterwards: Rs 19.50 crore on Tuesday, Rs 9.75 crore on Wednesday, Rs 6 crore on Thursday and Rs 3.50 crore on Friday. Salman Khan’s festive-release muscle had delivered the crowd; the film could not keep it. A Rs 110.36 crore India finish was barely four times day one and well below what a Rs 200 crore Salman-Murugadoss event had been built to achieve. The film ended its worldwide run at an underwhelming Rs 184.89 crore.

9. Indian 2

Released: 12 July 2024 | Director: S. Shankar | Main cast: Kamal Haasan, Siddharth, Rakul Preet Singh | Reported budget: Rs 250 crore | Opening day: Rs 25.60 crore India net

Senapathy returned 28 years after ‘Indian’, and the opening suggested audiences were ready to salute. The sequel took Rs 25.60 crore net across Tamil, Telugu and Hindi on Friday, followed by Rs 18.20 crore and Rs 15.35 crore over the weekend. Then came Monday: Rs 3 crore. The vigilante may have survived decades in the story, but the film’s theatrical momentum did not survive four days. Its lifetime India net finished at Rs 81.39 crore and its worldwide run at Rs 148.90 crore.

10. Kanguva

Released: 14 November 2024 | Director: Siva | Main cast: Suriya, Bobby Deol, Disha Patani | Reported budget: Rs 300-350 crore | Opening day: Rs 24 crore India net

Built as a time-spanning fantasy action epic, ‘Kanguva’ arrived carrying franchise-sized ambitions. Suriya’s star power delivered Rs 24 crore net on Thursday; Friday returned only Rs 9.50 crore, a fall of more than 60 per cent. The lifetime India number did not reach three opening days and finished at Rs 70.37 crore, while the worldwide finish of Rs 106.64 crore sat painfully far below the scale of the production.

11. Kalank

Released: 17 April 2019 | Director: Abhishek Varman | Main cast: Varun Dhawan, Alia Bhatt, Aditya Roy Kapur, Sonakshi Sinha, Madhuri Dixit, Sanjay Dutt | Reported budget: Rs 150 crore | Opening day: Rs 21.60 crore India net

The sets were lavish, the costumes immaculate and the cast looked long enough to populate a small principality. ‘Kalank’ also gave 2019 its biggest Hindi opening at the time. But Thursday fell almost 47 per cent to Rs 11.45 crore, the weekend never returned to opening-day level and the first Monday managed Rs 3.75 crore. Week two contributed a mere Rs 4.50 crore after a Rs 78.78 crore first week. The tragedy on screen was fictional; the rapidly emptying theatres supplied an unscripted epilogue. The Karan Johar-produced film finished its India run at Rs 85 crore and worldwide run at Rs 146.80 crore.

12. Tubelight

Released: 23 June 2017 | Director: Kabir Khan | Main cast: Salman Khan, Sohail Khan, Om Puri | Reported budget: Rs 100 crore | Opening day: Rs 21.15 crore India net

Like ‘Race 3’, ‘Tubelight’ needs a qualifier: Sacnilk’s verdict is “average,” not disaster. Its inclusion is about the shape of the run. The Salman Khan drama stayed near Rs 20 crore for four days around Eid, then slid to Rs 12 crore on Tuesday, Rs 6.50 crore on Wednesday and Rs 4.50 crore on Thursday. Week two collapsed 89.19 per cent from week one, and the film added barely Rs 12 crore after its opening week. It was less an opening-day implosion than a holiday glow that switched off with startling speed. The film eventually ended its run with Rs 119 crore net in India and Rs 211 crore worldwide.

13. Zero

Released: 21 December 2018 | Director: Aanand L Rai | Main cast: Shah Rukh Khan, Anushka Sharma, Katrina Kaif | Reported budget: Rs 200 crore | Opening day: Rs 20.14 crore India net

SRK as the vertically challenged Bauua Singh, Anushka Sharma as scientist Aafia and Katrina Kaif as troubled star Babita Kumari made ‘Zero’ anything but small on paper. The Christmas release began at Rs 20.14 crore and held near that level through Sunday, but Monday halved to Rs 9.50 crore. By Wednesday it was at Rs 4.80 crore; the second Friday produced only Rs 1 crore. The film’s India lifetime only reached Rs 96.61 crore, and its Rs 178 crore worldwide finish fell below the reported Rs 200 crore production cost.

14. Liger

Released: 25 August 2022 | Director: Puri Jagannadh | Main cast: Vijay Deverakonda, Ananya Panday, Ronit Roy, Mike Tyson | Reported budget: Rs 125 crore | Opening day: Rs 15.95 crore India net

The promotions spoke like a champion; the collections lasted barely a round. Vijay Deverakonda’s pan-India boxing drama opened at Rs 15.95 crore net, with Telugu contributing most of the number. Day two fell to Rs 7.70 crore, day three to Rs 6.55 crore and the first Monday to Rs 1.56 crore. The net India total was only Rs 41.17 crore – a brutal result for a film marketed as a national star-making event. Mike Tyson’s cameo supplied heavyweight branding, but the box office delivered a knockout in the wrong corner, finishing its worldwide run at Rs 57 crore.

15. Bade Miyan Chote Miyan

Released: 11 April 2024 | Director: Ali Abbas Zafar | Main cast: Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Prithviraj Sukumaran, Manushi Chhillar, Alaya F | Reported budget: Rs 350 crore | Opening day: Rs 15.65 crore India net

For a Rs 350 crore Eid action spectacle starring Akshay Kumar and Tiger Shroff, Rs 15.65 crore was already a less-than-giant opening. What earned it a place here is what followed: Friday dropped 51.44 per cent to Rs 7.60 crore, and the first Monday mustered Rs 2.50 crore despite discounted tickets. The expensive explosions kept going on screen while the collections quietly left the building. With Rs 65.97 crore net in India and Rs 111.50 crore worldwide, the movie’s lifetime gross was not even one-third of its reported cost.

The lesson running through these films is not that opening-day records are meaningless. They measure anticipation brilliantly. What they cannot measure is satisfaction. Stars, sequels, holidays and advance sales can pack theatres once; only the film can persuade viewers to show up in large numbers. ‘Toxic’ has already demonstrated the extraordinary drawing power of Yash and its ensemble. Whether it stabilises from here or joins this list permanently will be decided not by the Rs 100 crore headline it began with, but by the days that follow it.