Nandamuri Balakrishna’s Daaku Maharaj mints more on Pongal than Ram Charan’s Game Changer

Post the success of Allu Arjun’s Pushpa 2- The Rule, all eyes were set on Ram Charan and Shankar’s combination to elevate the dominance of Telugu Cinema with their Game Changer. But as one has always heard, expect the unexpected, and it happened with Nandamuri Balakrishna’s Daaku Maharaj enjoying a bigger success at the box office, than the big ticket game Changer.

Pongal is a huge event down south, and films usually try to cash in big on the event. Both Game Changer and Daaku Maharaj were keen to get the best out of the occasion. But at the end of the day it was Daaku Maharaj that earned more.
Nandamuri Balakrishna, who is popularly known as NBK, minted Rs 12 crore, a minute drop from its monday collection of Rs 12.8 crore while Shankar’s directorial venture earned Rs 10.19 crore. With their respective collections, both films were able to cross a major box office landmark. While Game Changer entered the Rs 100 crore club on the 5th day of its release, Daaku Maharaj crossed the Rs 50 crore mark on the third day. It would be interesting to see how both the films fare from hereon till the coming weekend.
But the trend going forward is worrying, as both films have been pegged as massive budgets of Rs 300 and Rs 100 crore respectively, and both have a long way to go before breaking even.
Daaku Maharaj is a story of a daring robber striving for survival, and establishing his own territory, while fighting with powerful adversaries. The film also features actor Bobby Deol as the antagonist.
The film was recently in the news for its song Dabidi Dabidi, that featured NBK and Urvashi Rautela. Social media went a buzz over the choreography of the song, and taking to X, Urvashi wrote , “ It’s ironic how some who’ve achieved nothing feel entitled to criticize those who work tirelessly. Real power isn’t in tearing others down, it's in lifting them up and inspiring greatness.”