Dude box office collection day 1: Pradeep Ranganathan is quickly establishing himself as a formidable force in the Tamil film industry. After delivering hits like Comali, Love Today, and Dragon, the actor-director has struck gold yet again with his latest release, Dude. The film, which hit theatres on the weekend before Diwali, opened to an impressive Rs 10 crore on its first day, according to industry tracker Sacnilk.
Dude had approximately 1,490 shows in Tamil and 673 shows in Telugu, across India. Benefiting from a festive release, Dude recorded an overall occupancy of 48.85% in Tamil and 49.61% in Telugu. With the Diwali holidays just around the corner, Dude is expected to witness a surge in footfalls, likely boosting its first week collections.
The Keerthiswaran film also stars Mamitha Baiju, best known for her role in the sleeper hit Premalu. That film, produced on a modest Rs 10 crore budget, went on to collect Rs 131 crore worldwide. However, her subsequent film Rebel underperformed at the box office.
Pradeep Ranganathan, who directed and starred in Comali and Love Today, has earned acclaim for creating commercially successful content at relatively modest budgets. Collectively, Comali and Love Today grossed over Rs 200 crore at the box office.
Previously, Love Today was remade in Hindi, with Khushi Kapoor and Junaid Khan. Unfortunately, the Hindi version titled Loveyappa failed to resonate with audiences and flopped at the box office.
Dude marks Pradeep’s second release this year following Ashwath Marimuthu’s Dragon, which was made on a Rs 37 crore budget and went on to gross Rs 150 crore worldwide. If early trends are any indication, Dude appears to be on a similar path to success. Dragon had opened at Rs 7.6 crore.
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Dude released against Dhruv Vikram’s Bison and Harish Kalyan’s Diesel. However, both the films have underperformed on its opening day with a collection of Rs 2.5 crore and Rs 25 lakh respectively.
