Raid 2 Box Office Day 1: Ajay Devgn Beats His Own Record But Misses Top Spot of 2025

Ajay Devgn’s much-awaited film Raid 2 hit the big screens on May 1 and has had an impressive start at the domestic box office. As per early estimates by Sacnilk.com, the movie collected ?18.25 crore on its first day. This makes it the third highest Hindi film opener of 2025 so far.

Directed by Raj Kumar Gupta, Raid 2 continues the story of 2018’s Raid, bringing back Devgn in his role as fearless IRS officer Amay Patnaik. This time, he sets out on a fresh mission against the powerful Dada Manohar Bhai, played by Riteish Deshmukh. Vaani Kapoor also joins the cast in a key role, while Saurabh Shukla makes a special appearance, reprising his role from the original.

Compared to Devgn’s earlier films, Raid 2 has performed better than Drishyam 2, which opened at ?15.38 crore in 2022. It also beat Sunny Deol’s Jaat 2, which collected ?9.50 crore on its first day. However, it is still behind the top openers of this year – Chhaava (?31 crore) and Sikandar (?26 crore).

The occupancy rate in theatres for Raid 2 stood at 31.81% overall on Thursday. Morning shows had a 21.23% occupancy, which picked up by afternoon to 35.76%, and went even higher by evening with 38.45%. This clearly shows that audience interest grew steadily during the day, thanks to positive word-of-mouth.

While the opening has been strong, reviews have been mixed. According to a review on News18.com, Devgn’s performance felt a bit flat. “Despite his best efforts, the character feels one-dimensional, lacking the depth and complexity fans expect from the franchise,” the review stated.

On the other hand, Riteish Deshmukh has been praised for his role as the villain. “Riteish commands the screen with power and effectively conveys his character’s vicious nature through nuanced acting,” the review mentioned. It even said that he “steals the spotlight.”

Looking at its day one performance, Raid 2 is expected to keep up the pace over the weekend, especially as fans are excited to see the face-off between Ajay Devgn and Riteish Deshmukh unfold in theatres.