Drishyam 3 Box Office: Ajay Devgn Thriller Rakes In ₹95.10 Cr Worldwide on Day 1
The fever pitch surrounding Vijay Salgaonkar’s ultimate fate reached an unprecedented crescendo on Friday as director Abhishek Pathak's suspense thriller Drishyam 3 unleashed a box office storm. According to industry tracker Sacnilk, the high-stakes investigative saga headlined by Ajay Devgn alongside Jaideep Ahlawat racked up a staggering ₹66.75 crore net across Indian multiplexes and single screens on its opening day. Fuelled by packed houseful boards and late-night midnight screenings, the film’s global gross reached a massive ₹95.10 crore on Friday alone, positioning the third installment as the biggest career opener for Ajay Devgn and putting it within striking distance of crossing the coveted ₹100 crore worldwide benchmark inside its opening 36 hours.
Global Craze Across North America, Gulf, and Australia Delivers ₹15 Crore Overseas
The cinematic suspense resonated far beyond Indian shores, with international diaspora audiences rushing to theaters to witness the climactic chapter of the Salgaonkar family legal saga. Key international territories spanning the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and the Middle East generated ₹15 crore in overseas gross collections on Day 1. Exhibitors across UAE and North American circuits reported rapid sell-outs, driven by immense organic anticipation following the iconic legacy of the previous two franchise installments and aggressive word-of-mouth acclaim praising the intense face-off between Devgn and Ahlawat.
Eclipsing 6 Pan-India Titans: Day 1 Haul Outpaces Kalki, Jailer, and Ek Tha Tiger
With a ₹95.10 crore opening haul, Drishyam 3 has officially emerged as the second-highest global opener of 2026, trailing only Dhurandhar. In a remarkable feat for a narrative-driven suspense thriller, the film shattered the Day 1 worldwide gross numbers of several established action spectacles, outstripping Prabhas’s sci-fi epic Kalki (₹95 crore), Ram Charan’s Peddi (₹94 crore), Salman Khan’s Ek Tha Tiger (₹93 crore), Rajinikanth’s Jailer (₹91 crore), and Rishab Shetty’s Kantara: Chapter 1 (₹88 crore). The sheer velocity of ticket sales reflects the massive theatrical appetite for intelligent writing over mindless action tropes.
Dominating the 2026 Slate: Overtaking Major Tentpole Releases
In addition to toppling legacy blockbusters, Drishyam 3 has decisively outperformed the initial box office momentum of fellow 2026 tentpole releases, including Border 2, Mirzapur: The Movie, Awarapan 2, Welcome to the Jungle, Bhoot Bangla, Dhamaal 4, and YRF's Alpha. Exhibitors are projecting exponential growth across Saturday and Sunday, estimating that massive family turnout and universal critical acclaim will propel the film’s worldwide weekend gross past ₹250 crore, marking an indelible commercial milestone for Hindi cinema.
