The sea-based sports action drama, made on a reported budget of around ₹75 crore, sold 1,28,511 tickets for Day 1 in advance, generating ₹2.06 crore across 3,047 shows in 863 theatres spanning 306 cities.
Overall occupancy sat at 12.5%, with four housefull shows and 115 fast-filling ones already logged before the first screenings. The Tamil version did the heavy lifting, pulling in ₹1.62 crore from 97,244 tickets across 2,250 shows at 12.7% occupancy.
The Telugu version contributed ₹43.32 lakh from 31,267 tickets and 795 shows (11.9% occupancy). Standard 2D accounted for the bulk at ₹1.86 crore, while premium formats showed stronger interest—IMAX 2D hit 22.8% occupancy, Dolby Cinema reached nearly 39%, and EPIQ stood at about 25%.
In the direct clash with Karthi’s Sardar 2, Mandaadi held a clear edge in Tamil Nadu pre-sales (around ₹1.45 crore versus ₹1.20 crore). The reverse was true in Andhra Pradesh-Telangana, where Sardar 2 led.
National chains like PVR also showed Mandaadi slightly ahead in gross despite comparable show counts. These figures reflect a healthy home-state pull for Soori in a film heavy on open-sea action and traditional boat-race drama, rather than pure mass-hero openings.
With morning shows just underway, the final Day 1 total will depend on how afternoon and evening occupancy builds. For a mid-budget original with this kind of advance base, the early data suggests a respectable launch, especially if word-of-mouth on the visuals and action holds up over the weekend.
Kadir is a box office reporter and film analyst from Hojai, Assam, and the founder of Tenvow.com. Since 2015, he has been into box office reporting. With a focus on box office collections, OTT trends, and movie analysis, Kadir delivers accurate, data driven insights into the business of films.
