Early estimates put Nani's action drama at number six among 2026's biggest Telugu grossers, with the film eyeing the Rs 100 crore mark by its first Sunday.
Two days. That's all it took for The Paradise to muscle its way into the top ten highest-grossing Telugu films of 2026. Early trends reported by Koimoi peg the film's net collection at Rs 61-62 crore after Friday's business, a number that has already pushed past Maa Inti Bangaaram and Anaganaga Oka Raju on the year's chart.
Day two itself brought in somewhere between Rs 14.5 and 15 crore, spread across roughly 7,000 shows nationally, with average occupancy sitting at 32.8 percent, per the same early estimates. That's a soft hold on paper, but multiplex numbers apparently haven't budged much, which is doing the heavy lifting here. The mass centres are still turning up.
What makes the run notable is that it's happening against the grain of the reviews. The Paradise opened to a mixed-to-negative critical reception, with several critics flagging the violence in the film as excessive, even gratuitous. None of that appears to have dented the audience's appetite so far, at least not according to the trends being tracked right now.
The film is currently parked at number six on the 2026 Telugu list, and the projection floating around trade circles is that it clears Ustaad Bhagat Singh by Saturday morning to take the fifth spot outright. The next name on the horizon after that is The RajaSaab, a considerably bigger target and one that will test whether this hold has real legs beyond the opening weekend.
The bigger number everyone's watching is the three-figure mark. If the current pace continues through Saturday and into Sunday, The Paradise is on track to cross Rs 100 crore before completing its first weekend, a milestone that would make the mixed reviews look almost beside the point.
Worth remembering that these are early trends, not verified final figures, and Friday-to-Saturday swings in Telugu cinema can go either way depending on how word of mouth settles once the extended family crowd shows up over the weekend. Nani has been here before with films that opened rough on the review front and still found their footing with mass audiences.
The next 48 hours decide a lot. If The Paradise genuinely clears Rs 100 crore by Sunday night, the conversation shifts entirely from the violence criticism to just how far this one can run in its second week, especially with The RajaSaab looming as the next big number to chase.
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