Akshay Kumar expected to have a hit on his hands after three years

Kesari Chapter 2 Box Office Collection Prediction Day 1: Akshay Kumar-starrer Kesari Chapter 2 is releasing in theatres on Friday and the film has already made Rs 2.06 crore at the box office, as per industry tracker Sacnilk. Produced Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions, the film also stars R Madhavan and Ananya Panday in lead roles. The trade tracker reports that out of Kesari Chapter 2’s Rs 2.06 crore worth block bookings, tickets worth almost Rs 1 crore have already been sold.
Kesari 2 will have 594 shows in Gujarat, 814 shows in Maharashtra, 199 shows in Punjab, and 413 shows in Delhi. The film is scheduled to have over 3700 shows on its opening day. Directed Karan Singh Tyagi, the film is based on the life of C Sankaran Nair who was sued Michael O’Dwyer, as he named O’Dwyer as one of the key people who was responsible for the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in 1919. O’Dwyer was the Lieutenant Governor of Punjab and gave Reginald Dyer free reign to handle the situation in Amritsar as he saw fit, which led to the massacre. Akshay plays Nair in the film.
ALSO READ | Kesari 2: Britain is yet to apologise for the horrors of Jallianwala Bagh while ‘Hitler’ General Dyer’s family remembers him as an ‘honourable man’
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Earlier this year, Akshay Kumar was seen with Veer Pahariya in the film Sky Force. While the film made over Rs 110 crore at the box office, with an opening of around Rs 12 crore, trade analyst Komal Nahta accused the makers of inflating the box office numbers. Before this, Akshay was seen in the ensemble film Khel Khel Mein, which failed to impress the audience at the box office and made only Rs 40 crore at the box office, with an opening of around Rs 5 crore. The film released on the same day as Stree 2, which became the biggest hit of 2024 and made around Rs 600 crore at the domestic box office.
Akshay has had a string of flops at the box office since 2022. Sarfira, Bade Miyan Chote Miyan, Mission Raniganj, Selfiee, Ram Setu, Raksha Bandhan, Samrat Prithviraj, Bachchhan Paandey – all flopped at the box office, apart from OMG 2. OMG 2 starred Pankaj Tripathi in the lead role, with Akshay playing a smaller role alongside him. The film released alongside Gadar 2 and managed to hold its ground, despite having an A certificate.