'Kushi' box office day 1: Vijay Deverakonda and Samantha Ruth Prabhu starrer takes off on a positive note

The latest romantic drama, "Kushi," starring Vijay Deverakonda and Samantha Ruth Prabhu, made its theatrical debut on Friday, garnering a positive response with an impressive opening of Rs 16 crore nett in India.

Notably, the film showed its dominance in Telugu-speaking regions, securing an occupancy rate of 59.13 percent on its opening day, with a peak during the evening shows, accounting for 74.13 percent of the total audience footfalls.

Benefitting from the absence of major Telugu releases in theaters, "Kushi" appears poised for a successful box office run.

Hyderabad emerged as the top city for foot traffic, contributing 64.75 percent of the film's audience, followed by Bengaluru and Chennai for the Telugu version.

The Tamil version of the film maintained a commendable overall occupancy rate of 40.12 percent.

Interestingly, Vijay Deverakonda's previous release in 2022, "Liger," which had a pan-Indian release, also achieved an opening day collection of Rs 16 crore.

Samantha's last outing, "Shaakuntalam," a Telugu release, earned Rs 2.7 crore on its opening day but was considered a commercial disappointment.

While "Kushi" enjoys a favorable window with limited competition, Shah Rukh Khan's "Jawan," releasing in Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu on September 7, poses a potential challenge.

"Kushi" will have about a week to capitalize on the undivided audience attention before facing competition from the much-anticipated release.

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