Sep 11, 2026 1:35pm IST
‘Mandaadi’ Vs ‘Sardar 2’ Box Office: Soori’s Sports Drama Edges Past Karthi-Starrer On Day One
Soori’s “Mandaadi” and Karthi’s “Sardar 2” remained locked in a close battle on the first day at the box office. However, the sports action drama edged past the espionage thriller by a small margin, despite the latter being a franchise film.
While “Mandaadi” collected ₹4.75 crore with an average occupancy of 32.6%, "Sardar 2" raked in ₹4.50 crore, recording an average occupancy of 24.5%.
The Soori-headlined movie dominated the Tamil market, earning ₹3.90 crore at 35% average occupancy, while its Telugu-dubbed version contributed ₹0.85 crore at 26% average occupancy.
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Meanwhile, the Telugu-dubbed version of the second installment of "Sardar" registered better occupancy at 29% and collected ₹1.90 crore across 1,402 shows, compared to 22% occupancy for the original-language version, which earned ₹2.60 crore across 2,548 shows.
With both films receiving positive-to-decent response from audiences, they are expected to witness an upward swing over the weekend, followed by a potential boost on Monday due to the Ganesh Chaturthi holiday.
Interestingly, this clash comes full circle for Soori, who started his journey as a comedian, then moved into supporting roles, and is now a leading hero. In fact, in films like “Naan Mahaan Alla,” “Kadaikutty Singam” and “Viruman,” Soori played supporting roles, whereas Karthi was the lead star.
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