Now Reading: Toxic opens at Rs 100 crore but Mumbai shows cut 20%
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Toxic opens at Rs 100 crore but Mumbai shows cut 20%
Yash's Toxic opened to an estimated Rs 100 crore gross in India and Rs 130 crore worldwide on day one, the biggest opening for any Indian film in 2026, according to Tracktollywood. Advance bookings sold 18 lakh tickets, Cinemaexpress reports. Yet mixed reviews across languages have hit momentum. In Mumbai, 123telugu reports exhibitors cut nearly 20% of shows on day two after negative word of mouth.
The film carries a break-even target of over Rs 800 crore, Tracktollywood notes. M9.news reports that some social media critics, called 'samosa critics', have refused to review the film, leading to speculation they were paid to stay silent. The weekend collections will decide whether Toxic survives its long run.
Indian Opinion Analysis
Tracktollywood.com and Cinemaexpress.com lead with the record opening-day figures, framing the mixed response as a secondary factor. M9.news, in two separate pieces, ignores the box office entirely, focusing instead on the narrative of audience disappointment and the supposed silence of 'samosa critics', a sensationalist angle that speculates about paid reviewers. 123telugu.com acknowledges both the strong initial collection and the show cuts in Mumbai, offering the most balanced picture. The divergence highlights how pre-release hype can inflate opening numbers even when critical reception is poor. The weekend holds the key: if collections drop sharply, the critical narrative will outweigh the opening-day record. If they hold, Yash's star power will have overridden audience reviews.
Coverage: 5 sources, 1 government-critical, 3 neutral, 1 sensationalist
Sources (5): 123telugu.com (neutral report), m9.news (sensationalist), m9.news (2) (government critical), tracktollywood.com (neutral report), cinemaexpress.com (neutral report)
This brief was synthesised by AI from the 5 sources linked above, so one read covers every framing they carry. Methodology and corrections.
Updated: this story now draws on 5 sources.
