Three days in and Raja Shivaji is not slowing down — it is rewriting the rulebook for Marathi cinema, one record at a time. Riteish Deshmukh’s ambitious historical epic crossed the ₹26 crore mark by Day 3 (Sunday, May 3, 2026), has already surpassed the lifetime collections of over 10 beloved Marathi films, and is now firmly in the crosshairs of Sairat (2016) — the current all-time highest-grossing Marathi film at ₹110 crore worldwide. The question on everyone’s mind this weekend: can Raja Shivaji dethrone Sairat after 10 years of dominance?
The numbers so far say: it has a real shot.
🔴 LIVE: Raja Shivaji Box Office Collection — Day 3 (Sunday, May 3, 2026)
Last Updated: Live tracking in progress | Source: Sacnilk & TrackTollywood
As of early morning tracking (07:02 IST):
- Day 3 early gross (live): ₹90.28 lakh collected from 923 shows across 224 cities at 21.8% occupancy — with Sunday’s peak evening shows still to come
- Day 3 expected final gross: ₹12–14 crore (projected, based on occupancy trajectory and Sunday audience patterns)
- Total gross after 3 days: ₹26.48 crore (per Sacnilk Day 3 tracker) — with Day 3 final tallies still being updated
- Total footfalls in 3 days: 7,48,058 — across 12,855 shows
- Monday (Day 4) advance booking: ₹60.38 lakh gross — 31,000 tickets already booked across 4,866 shows in 1,227 theatres spanning 346 cities; 8 housefull and 22 fast-filling shows already showing for Monday
- Overall Monday occupancy (advance): 2.9% — healthy for a weekday, suggesting strong word-of-mouth carry
Full Day 3 collection figures will be confirmed by end of day. Refresh for updates.
What Is the Day-Wise Raja Shivaji Box Office Collection So Far?
Here is the clean, confirmed picture from Sacnilk and TrackTollywood:
| Day | Date | India Gross | India Net | Shows | Footfalls |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | Friday, May 1, 2026 | ₹13.51 crore | ₹11.35 crore | 6,192 | 1,75,959 |
| Day 2 | Saturday, May 2, 2026 | ₹12.27–12.6 crore | ₹10.55 crore | 7,722 | ~5,72,099 |
| Day 3 | Sunday, May 3, 2026 | 🔴 Live tracking | TBA | 923+ | TBA |
| Total (3 days) | — | ₹26.4–26.48 crore | ~₹21.90 crore+ | 12,855+ | 7,48,058+ |
Note: Day 2 figures reflect a modest 7.7% drop from Day 1 — completely normal for a non-holiday Saturday following a Maharashtra Day holiday opening. Sunday is expected to be the highest single-day earner of the opening weekend.
What Records Has Raja Shivaji Already Broken?
Three days in, the record count is already extraordinary. Here is the full, verified list:
Records broken at the Marathi box office:
- ✅ Biggest opening day ever for a Marathi film: ₹13.51 crore gross on Day 1 — obliterating Sairat‘s opening day gross of ₹4.23 crore, per Goodreturns
- ✅ Biggest opening day net ever for a Marathi film: ₹11.35 crore net — vs. Sairat‘s ₹3.60 crore and Ved‘s ₹2.25 crore, per The Week and Business Standard
- ✅ Biggest opening weekend ever for a Marathi film: ₹26+ crore gross by Day 2 already — vs. Sairat‘s ₹12.20 crore opening weekend worldwide, per Goodreturns
- ✅ Biggest advance booking ever for a Marathi film: ₹5.14 crore gross (without block seats) — surpassing Sairat and Timepass 2 which had each scored around ₹3.60 crore net on opening day, per Sacnilk
- ✅ Marathi version alone earned ₹8 crore net on Day 1 — more than the entire Marathi version of Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior earned in its entire theatrical run (₹0.10 crore), per The Week
- ✅ Already in the top 20 all-time Marathi grossers — after just two days of release, per Goodreturns
- ✅ Surpassed lifetime collections of Ventilator, Mauli, Dharmaveer, Me Shivajiraje Bhosale Boltoy, Aapla Manus, Navra Maza Navsacha 2, Naal, Chandramukhi, Classmates, and Double Seat — all Marathi industry milestones — in just 2 days, per Goodreturns
How Does the Marathi Version Compare to the Hindi Version?
This is one of the most important dynamics shaping Raja Shivaji‘s box office story — and it reflects a wider truth about pan-India ambitions for regional-language films.
As confirmed by The Week on Day 1:
- Marathi version: ₹8.00 crore net from just 1,941 shows — 68% occupancy — extraordinary demand per screen
- Hindi version: ₹3.35 crore net from 4,251 shows — 16% occupancy — lower traction despite more screens
The arithmetic here is telling. The Marathi version ran on fewer screens but pulled more than double the occupancy rate of the Hindi version. This is a film whose heart beats in one state — Maharashtra — and that state is showing up in force.
The Hindi version’s relative underperformance is not a surprise: Sacnilk had flagged before release that while the Marathi pre-sales were historic, Hindi bookings were underwhelming. The film remains — proudly and correctly — a Marathi cinema event first, and a pan-India release second.
Can Raja Shivaji Beat Sairat’s All-Time Marathi Record?
This is the big question — and the answer is: it is possible, but not guaranteed.
Sairat (2016), directed by Nagraj Manjule, holds the all-time record for Marathi cinema with a worldwide collection of approximately ₹110 crore. It was a once-in-a-generation phenomenon — a Romeo-and-Juliet tragedy set against the backdrop of rural Maharashtra that swept across class and caste lines and found audiences far beyond the state’s borders.
Raja Shivaji, after 3 days, has already crossed ₹26 crore gross. That means it needs approximately ₹84 crore more to surpass Sairat‘s all-time record. At its current trajectory, that is achievable — but only if word-of-mouth sustains collections strongly through Week 2 and beyond.
Goodreturns puts the film’s realistic potential at ₹50 crore — which would make it the second-highest-grossing Marathi film of all time, comfortably. Crossing ₹110 crore would require a degree of sustained momentum rarely seen outside Sairat itself.
The next two weeks — weekday holds and the second weekend — will tell the real story.
How Does Raja Shivaji Compare to Other Marathi and Bollywood Benchmarks?
Context matters. Here is where Raja Shivaji sits against key comparators:
| Film | Language | Opening Day (Gross) | Opening Weekend | Lifetime |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Raja Shivaji (2026) | Marathi/Hindi | ₹13.51 crore | ₹26.4+ crore (3 days) | 🔴 Ongoing |
| Sairat (2016) | Marathi | ₹4.23 crore | ₹12.20 crore | ₹110 crore |
| Ved (2022, Riteish’s debut) | Marathi | ₹2.25 crore | ~₹8 crore | ~₹90 crore |
| Timepass 2 | Marathi | ₹3.60 crore | — | — |
| Tanhaji (2020) | Hindi/Marathi | ~₹15.10 crore (all languages) | ₹60+ crore | ₹283 crore |
| Chhaava (2025) | Hindi | ₹31+ crore | ₹100+ crore | ₹700+ crore |
Raja Shivaji‘s opening day numbers trail Chhaava (2025) — The Week noted this directly — but that comparison requires important context. Chhaava was a pan-India Hindi blockbuster with a massive Bollywood marketing budget. Raja Shivaji is a Marathi-language film, predominantly driven by one state, with a reported budget of approximately ₹100 crore — making it the most expensive Marathi production ever made, closer in scale to Chhaava (₹130 crore) than to any previous Marathi historical, per The Week.
On those terms, its opening is not just strong — it is historically unprecedented for the category.
What Is the Competition Doing This Weekend?
Raja Shivaji is not operating in an empty marketplace. Here is the competitive landscape it is navigating:
Bhooth Bangla (Day 16): Akshay Kumar’s horror comedy earned ₹4.35 crore on its 16th day, taking its India net total to ₹137 crore and worldwide collection to ₹217.73 crore, per Bollywood Life. It is performing strongly as a holdover but not in direct competition for Raja Shivaji‘s Maharashtra-based audience.
Ek Din: A Hindi film starring Junaid Khan and Sai Pallavi that released on the same day as Raja Shivaji. Bollywood Life noted that the box office clash between Raja Shivaji and Ek Din proved one-sided — Ek Din failed to attract meaningful audiences.
Dhurandhar: The Revenge: Still running in its 7th week and contributing to the crowded multiplex ecosystem, though its direct impact on Raja Shivaji in Maharashtra is limited by geography and audience segmentation.
In the Marathi-speaking heartland, Raja Shivaji is essentially uncontested. That is its biggest strategic advantage.
What Has Riteish Deshmukh Said About the Historic Opening?
Riteish Deshmukh — who wrote, directed, and starred in Raja Shivaji — has been visibly moved by the audience response in the film’s opening days. Speaking at various public interactions ahead of release, he consistently emphasized that this film was not made to break records, but to honour a man who deserves to be known by every Indian.
The records, as it turns out, came anyway.
His wife and co-producer Genelia Deshmukh, who also appears in the film as Saibai (Shivaji Maharaj’s first wife), has shared her pride on social media. The family dimension of this project runs deep — their own son Rahyl Deshmukh plays the young Shivaji, and their second son Riaan also appears in the film. What began as a passion project for the Deshmukh family has become, three days in, the most successful Marathi film opening in history.
What Is the Path to ₹50 Crore and Beyond for Raja Shivaji?
For the film to reach the ₹50 crore milestone that analysts like Goodreturns consider realistic, here is what needs to happen:
Week 1 target: ₹35–40 crore gross — achievable if Sunday delivers ₹12–14 crore and weekday holds are strong.
Week 2 target: ₹10–15 crore additional — dependent on word-of-mouth strength in non-Maharashtra markets and the Hindi version picking up steam.
Beyond ₹50 crore: This would require either a significant uptick in the Hindi belt — which so far has not shown the engagement level of Maharashtra — or exceptionally strong sustained holds in its core market over multiple weeks. Possible, but would make it a truly exceptional box office story.
The Monday advance of 31,000 tickets already sold — with 8 housefull and 22 fast-filling shows — is an encouraging sign that the film has genuine legs beyond the opening weekend.
Quick Summary: Raja Shivaji Box Office — 3-Day Snapshot
| Metric | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Day 1 India Gross | ₹13.51 crore | Sacnilk |
| Day 1 India Net | ₹11.35 crore | The Week |
| Day 2 India Net | ₹10.55 crore | Bollywood Life |
| 3-Day Total Gross | ₹26.4–26.48 crore | Sacnilk |
| 3-Day Total Net | ~₹21.90 crore+ | Bollywood Life |
| Total Footfalls | 7,48,058 | Sacnilk |
| Total Shows (3 days) | 12,855 | Sacnilk |
| Day 4 Advance (Monday) | ₹60.38 lakh gross | TrackTollywood |
| Previous Marathi Record (Day 1) | Sairat — ₹4.23 crore | Goodreturns |
| All-Time Marathi Record | Sairat — ₹110 crore worldwide | Goodreturns |
| Budget | ~₹100 crore | The Week |
| Realistic target | ₹50 crore | Goodreturns |
Sources: Sacnilk – Day 1 · Sacnilk – Day 2 · Sacnilk – Day 3 Live · Sacnilk – Record Opening Analysis · TrackTollywood – Live Day 3 · Goodreturns – Day 3 & Sairat comparison · The Week – Records & Chhaava comparison · Bollywood Life – Day 2 · Bollywood Life – Bhooth Bangla Day 16 · Business Standard – Day 1 Report · News24 – Raja Shivaji vs Dhurandhar 2
