War 2 vs Coolie box office: Rajinikanth maintains upper hand over Hrithik and Jr NTR in key regions

The long-anticipated box office clash between two big-ticket releases — YRF’s War 2 and Lokesh Kanagaraj’s Coolie — delivered a result few had predicted. While Hrithik Roshan and Jr NTR brought together their respective fan bases for the sequel to 2019’s War, it was 74-year-old Rajinikanth who ended day one ahead in most territories.

Opening day numbers tell the story

War 2, positioned as part of the YRF Spy Universe alongside Pathaan and the Tiger franchise, earned Rs 45 crore net in India on opening day. That’s below the first War’s Rs 51 crore debut and well short of Pathaan’s Rs 57 crore record. The presence of Jr NTR gave it a pan-India push, but the film fell short of the expected surge.

Coolie, despite fewer screens nationwide, grossed Rs 61 crore in India on day one — Rajinikanth’s highest ever, overtaking Enthiran’s record. Traditional strongholds like Tamil Nadu and Kerala turned out in force, but what stood out was its reach beyond the south.

Regional trends shift in Rajinikanth’s favour

In Tamil Nadu and Kerala, Coolie’s original Tamil version saw 84% occupancy. The Telugu dubbed version outperformed expectations, hitting 91% occupancy across 900 shows. In Chennai, the Telugu version sold out completely. Even in Hyderabad, where Jr NTR commands a loyal following, Coolie posted 97% occupancy versus War 2’s 74%.

The Hindi belt showed a similar tilt. Coolie’s Hindi-dubbed version managed 29% occupancy across India, with centres like Lucknow at 44%. War 2’s Hindi version stood at 23% overall, 38% in Lucknow.

Where War 2 held ground

War 2 maintained a lead in total earnings in both Hindi and Telugu simply because it had more shows than Coolie. But Rajinikanth’s film cut into its performance in both markets, a sign that audiences are willing to cross linguistic lines for the right star-vehicle.

Coolie features Rajinikanth alongside Nagarjuna, Upendra, Shruti Haasan and Soubin Shahir. War 2 stars Hrithik Roshan, Jr NTR, Kiara Advani and Ashutosh Rana. With the weekend ahead, screen allocation and word-of-mouth could decide how this high-profile clash plays out.