Border 2 has exploded at the Indian box office on Sunday. At mid-day today, the film looks certain to surpass the Rs. 45 crore nett, with what seems like Rs. 46-48 crore day. It is now moving towards Rs. 50 crore nett mark. Normally, films slow down on Sunday night, especially in the bigger urban centres. However, with a big national holiday falling tomorrow, occupancies are expected to remain strong through the night. This could be what makes the film touch and possibly go over Rs. 50 crore mark.

The three-day weekend for the Sunny Deol film is going to be around Rs. 109-111 crore nett. On high, this could be nearing Rs. 115 crore nett. Then there is Republic Day on Monday, which is a day so fitting for the film, it could go on to top today even. The film is going to be over Rs. 150 crore nett over the extended weekend, likely exceeding Rs. 155 crore.

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Border 2 collected Rs. 34.50 crore nett approx on its second day at the Indian box office. That marks a 23 per cent growth over its opening day, which is a superb trend. For a film like Border 2, which opens well and has a considerable share of business coming from smaller centres, staying flat or a minor bump on the second day is considered acceptable. The two-day running total for the film stands at Rs. 62.50 crore nett approx, with the Sunny Deol starrer headed for Rs. 100 crore plus nett weekend.

The film experienced its best growth in Mumbai and the Southern circuits on Saturday, which were on the lower side on opening day. Mumbai was up by around 45 per cent, with the Mumbai-Pune belt growing closer to 50 per cent, while Gujarat also saw a healthy 40 per cent jump. The latter is a Sunday market and should experience further growth today. In South, Mysore was up by nearly 50 per cent.

The Northern circuits continue to perform strongly, with bigger urban centres like Delhi-NCR seeing growth on Saturday, while Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh were relatively flat. Rajasthan and CPCI also had growth coming in on Saturday, which is fantastic, as these circuits tend to ease off on Saturdays for films that open well. The Eastern circuits did drop off a bit, with the likes of Bihar easing off a bit as is the norm, while West Bengal had a holiday on Friday and Saturday came down to normal levels.

In all, the second day has put the film in a very strong position. The opening day was a bit downer relative to expectations, but this growth has sorted it out. Sunday has started with a bang and should clear Rs. 40 crore, possibly Rs. 45 crore. Then there is a big national holiday for Republic Day on Monday, which will be another huge day for the film. The holds on Tuesday and Wednesday will determine just how high the film can eventually go. For now, the Hindi film industry has its first HIT of the year, and it will likely be a big one.