It may come as a surprise to many younger readers who keep hearing only positive things about Emraan Hashmi ’s Awarapan from older audiences, but when it released in 2007, the film was a box office bomb. The ambitious film from Vishesh Films managed to earn a mere ₹ 7.7 crore net in its lifetime. Awarapan 2 is tracking to have one of the biggest openings for Bollywood in 2026. In fact, the buzz is so strong that the film is set to cross part 1’s lifetime earnings even before release.
But over the years, as viewers discovered it on home media, cable, and eventually streaming, Awarapan gained a cult following. That belated credibility and love are now helping the sequel, set to release this weekend.
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The advance bookings for Awarapan 2 began just 48 hours before release, but were off to a rollicking start on Wednesday itself. By 3 PM on Thursday, just 18 hours before the film hits screens, Awarapan 2 has sold over 1.3 lakh tickets for release day. The film has sold tickets worth ₹ 4 crore for its opening day, according to Sacnilk. Trade insiders estimate that total advance bookings for the film’s opening weekend and beyond exceed ₹ 9 crore gross ( ₹ 7-8 crore net). This means that even before release, Awarapan 2 has surpassed the lifetime collection of its predecessor. Awarapan 2 is clashing with Sunny Deol’s Batwara 1947 at the box office. But trade analysts say that Awarapan 2 will be the winner of this battle. Most estimates put the film’s opening at a staggering ₹ 20 crore net. Even the more conservative estimates are around ₹ 15-18 crore, a solid figure. As things stand, Awarapan 2 should be looking to cross ₹ 100 crore worldwide in its opening weekend itself, eight times part 1’s lifetime collection. Directed by Nitin Kakkar and produced by Vishesh Bhatt, Awarapan 2 brings back Emraan Hashmi in his iconic role of Shivam Pandit. Awarapan 2 arrives in theatres on August 14.
That is an extraordinary turnaround. The film also stars Shabana Azmi, Disha Patani , and Suvinder Vicky.
