Nitesh Tiwari’s Ramayana: Part 1 has built a sizeable advance booking before its November 5 release, but the first two days of pre-sales show it is still chasing Yash’s Toxic: A Fairy Tale for Grown-Ups rather than setting a new benchmark. The film stars Ranbir Kapoor as Rama, Sai Pallavi as Sita, and Yash as Ravana.
The two-day advance number
As of 5 pm on Sunday, November 1, the film had grossed Rs 36.65 crore in advance sales across its first two days in India, according to Sacnilk. That came from 8.38 lakh tickets across 24,510 shows, with occupancy at 15%. After excluding blocked seats, the two-day number drops to Rs 29.79 crore.
Day 1 alone grossed Rs 23.87 crore from 5.42 lakh tickets across 13,165 shows at 18% occupancy. With blocked seats removed, it stands at Rs 20.04 crore, with 42 houseful shows.
Premium formats are doing the heavy lifting
IMAX, 4DX and Dolby Cinema generated Rs 4.74 crore from just 360 shows, about 23% of total advance collections. That is a signal that a chunk of early demand is coming from upmarket, experience-led audiences rather than mass single screens.
State-level demand is led by Maharashtra at Rs 4.58 crore gross, followed by Karnataka at Rs 4.36 crore and Delhi at Rs 3.58 crore.
The comparison that matters
- Toxic: Rs 73.43 crore Day 1 advance gross, 18.48 lakh tickets, 25,654 shows.
- Ramayana: Rs 36.65 crore for Day 1 and Day 2 combined, 8.38 lakh tickets, 24,510 shows.
The two films are not on the same curve. Toxic collected more than twice Ramayana’s two-day total in a single day of pre-sales. For a two-part franchise reported to cost Rs 4,000 crore combined, the gap matters: Ramayana needs a long, broad run, not just a premium-led opening.
Overseas, North American premieres have crossed $1 million in pre-sales, and all-date overseas bookings are at $3.5 million, with opening weekend expectations above $20 million.
What this means for planners
Ignore raw gross alone. The blocked-seat adjustment changes the picture materially: Day 1 drops from Rs 23.87 crore to Rs 20.04 crore. Track adjusted numbers, isolate premium formats, and watch whether the last four days push mass-market occupancy upward.
Source: The Times of India
