Kushi Box Office Prediction: After flops, Samantha-Vijay Deverakonda to make comeback?

Samantha Ruth Prabhu and Vijay Deverakonda have been busy promoting their upcoming release Kushi, set to hit the big screens on September 1. While Samantha last featured in Shaakuntalam (April 2023), Vijay saw the release of his maiden pan-India film Liger in August 2022. Both films, despite huge expectations riding on them, failed at the box office.

Kushi, meanwhile, marks the actors' reunion after Mahanati (2018). Given the film's success, anticipation for the new film is high. The film's trailer and song releases have generated some excitement among the viewers ahead of its September 1 release. But, will this translate into commercial success? Let's find out.

3 things you need to know: 

• Samantha battled myositis while she shot for Kushi.
• The movie's main market is the Telugu-speaking states.
• Trade analysts have predicted that Samantha can be a major factor in pulling the audiences to the theatres. 

Will Kushi perform well at the box office?

Trade analyst Akshaye Rathi predicted that Kushi can gross anywhere between Rs 7-10 crore at the Andhra Pradesh/Telangana box office on the opening day. He shared that the movie is getting a limited release in the Hindi-speaking belt and the North India market may not be a huge contributor to its collection.  

(Samanatha Ruth Prabhu and Vijay Deverakonda in a still from the Kushi trailer | Image: samantharuthprabhuoffl/Instagram)

“For AP/Telangana, I’d say anywhere between Rs 7 crores to Rs 10 crores. But it's a rather limited release across the Hindi-speaking belt. They’re going predominantly with a single-screen release,” Rathi told Republic Digital. 

Trade analyst Ramesh Bala predicted a lesser opening day figure in the Telugu-speaking states, somewhere in the range of Rs 5-7 crore gross on its opening day. However, he maintained that the film could get a double-digit opening in all languages. “The opening day for the film could be around Rs 5 to 7 crore (gross) in Telugu-speaking states. All over India, it should gross Rs 12 crore,” Bala said.

Will Kushi mark Samantha's comeback?

Is Kushi a high-stakes film for Samantha considering her pan-India popularity after Pushpa song Oo Antava and her acclaimed role in The Family Man 2? Akshaye Rathi said that the Super Deluxe actress is a star and has a long legacy of work behind her. He added that Vijay Deverakonda and Samantha have already delivered a hit with the Mahanati and can do it again with Kushi. 

(Samantha Ruth Prabhu in Shaakuntalam | Image: samantharuthprabhuoffl/Instagram)

“There’s no doubt about the fact that she will excel. If she goes back to doing action roles, she will excel in it too because true-blue superstars are genre-agnostic. Stardom really is genre-agnostic. True blue stars deliver across the genres and I’m sure that’s the case with Samantha as well,” Rathi said. 

Ramesh Bala noted that Kushi will invoke nostalgia among her fans and could be a contributing factor in drawing the audience to the theatres. "She has done well with romantic movies. Some of the movies that she’d done early on in her career have been romantic flicks. So this is nostalgic thing for her fans to see her in such a role again. It’s a sweet spot, so let’s see, how this film does for her,” Bala noted.'

(Samanatha Ruth Prabhu in a still from The Family Man | Image: samantharuthprabhuoffl/Instagram)

Kushi is a romantic drama. It is directed by Shiva Nirvana.