Actor Nani crosses 100 crore mark for first time as action film The Paradise hits milestone despite mixed reviews

Actor Nani's mass action film The Paradise has crossed the ₹100 crore mark at the box office in India by its sixth day of release, despite receiving mixed to abysmal reviews. ## Box Office Numbers The film started strongly with ₹11.60 crore from evening premieres on Thursday and ₹34.65 crore on Friday, bringing its total opening day figures to a career-best ₹46.25 crore for Nani. Collections dipped to ₹14.90 crore on Friday, recovered slightly to ₹15.25 crore on Saturday, and held steady at ₹15.70 crore on Sunday. Weekdays saw a sharp drop as the film earned ₹5 crore on Monday and ₹4.13 crore on Tuesday, bringing its total domestic collection to ₹101.23 crore. The bulk of these earnings came from the Telugu version, alongside releases in Hindi and Tamil.

Cast and Story

Directed by Srikanth Odela and produced by Sudhakar Cherukuri and Ishan Saksena under Sri Lakshmi Venkateshwara Cinemas and IVY Entertainment, the film features an ensemble cast including Nani, Mohan Babu, Kayadu Lohar, Sonali Kulkarni, and Raghav Juyal. The story is set in the 1980s and follows a tribe named the Savaari fighting for legal citizenship. Sonali plays their leader Sammakka, Nani plays her son Jadal, Mohan Babu plays a feudal overlord named Shikanja Malik, and Raghav plays his son Vikram Malik. The characters clash with the overlords and a system that refuses to recognise them.

Actor's Response

Addressing extreme social media reactions, Nani noted that out of 33 films in his 18-year career, he has never experienced such a divide between intense praise and deep disappointment. He described the passionate, aggressive honesty from critics as a positive sign of audience engagement.

Context

Crossing the ₹100 crore milestone marks a major career high for Nani, whose previous films like Saripodhaa Sanivaaram and HIT The third case came close but did not reach this figure. Indian regional cinema box office numbers often rely heavily on opening weekend momentum and regional language strongholds before slowing down on weekdays.