Border 2, the much-anticipated follow-up to the classic 1997 war epic, is not just making noise at the Indian box office but rewriting the early charts in blockbuster fashion. After a powerful opening weekend, the Sunny Deol-led war drama is on track to surpass the highest single-day footfalls ever recorded by Dhurandhar — a feat that underlines how aggressively audiences are turning out for the Republic Day weekend release.
Border 2, directed by Anurag Singh and featuring a star-studded cast that includes Sunny Deol, Varun Dhawan, Diljit Dosanjh and Ahan Shetty, opened strongly on January 23, collecting around ₹32.10 crore on its first day in India according to industry trackers. That figure already edged past the opening of Ranveer Singh’s Dhurandhar, which had debuted to roughly ₹28.60 crore domestically.
Border 2 Surges on Sunday Footfalls
As Border 2 hit its first Sunday at theatres, early occupancy reports pointed to a significant surge in ticket sales, suggesting the film could eclipse the benchmark set by Dhurandhar’s best single-day showing. According to morning occupancy trends shared by trade analysts, Border 2 saw an over 30% percent jump in collection on Day 3 compared to Saturday. This robust Sunday turnout signals that Border 2 is on pace to record the highest single-day footfall among Bollywood films in recent times.
This momentum reflects a blend of nostalgia for the Border franchise, strong word-of-mouth, and the advantage of a long holiday weekend. With Republic Day Monday still to come, industry experts now forecast that Border 2 could comfortably cross the ₹125 crore within its extended opening weekend, a rare box office milestone.
Why Border 2 Is Outpacing Dhurandhar In Terms Of Footfalls
Dhurandhar, which released in December and starred Ranveer Singh alongside Akshaye Khanna, had enjoyed a spectacular theatrical run, entering the 1000 crore club and becoming one of the highest grossers of 2025. Yet, in its 50th day in cinemas, Dhurandhar saw a sharp decline in daily earnings once Border 2 hit screens, with collections dropping significantly as audiences shifted their attention to the new war epic.
One needs to remember that Border 2 has significant lower ATP than Dhurandhar, almost 25% less! This means Border 2 footfalls today and tomorrow will be significant higher than Dhurandhar’s highest single day footfall. Today it just edged past Dhurandhar highest single day footfall but tomorrow it will be in league of its own. Dhurandhar scored ₹58.20 crore net on 2nd Sunday, the highest single day number of its run and the footfall of that day is easily defeated by Border 2 today with 50 – 52 crore net number.
The comparative performance so early in Border 2’s run highlights how strong its footfall appeal has been. Not only are fans flocking to watch the sequel in large numbers, but Border 2 is also emerging as a potential career-best opening for several of its leads, particularly Varun Dhawan, whose first-day tally with this film surpasses his previous highest debut numbers.
With Sunday’s unprecedented turnout and a holiday boost still unfolding tomorrow, Border 2 looks poised to challenge long-standing box office benchmarks set earlier this season.
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