Adivi Sesh and Mrunal Thakur’s Telugu romantic action drama Dacoit: A Love Story steps into its second Friday today, April 17, marking Day 8 of its theatrical run. Directed by Shaneil Deo and produced by Annapurna Studios, S.S. Creations, and Suniel Narang Productions, the film has had a difficult week at the box office after a promising but ultimately underwhelming opening weekend.
As early numbers begin to trickle in for the second Friday, the signs are not encouraging for the Adivi Sesh-starrer.
Box office performance on day 8
According to Sacnilk, Dacoit is currently running across just 404 shows on Day 8 – a significant reduction in screen count compared to its opening week. Early live figures put the day’s collection at Rs 0.11 crore, with final numbers yet to be reported.
The film has made a cumulative India net collection of Rs 28.56 crore, while the India gross has reached Rs 33.24 crore as of Day 8. On the international front, the overseas gross has totalled Rs 12.40 crore, taking the worldwide gross to approximately Rs 45.64 crore.
With such modest second-Friday momentum, any meaningful recovery over the second weekend would require a sharp and unlikely jump in footfalls. Sacnilk notes that while the makers are relatively cushioned due to strong pre-release OTT, satellite, and digital deals, the theatrical run appears to be winding down faster than hoped.
Theatre occupancy tells a story of fading interest
The occupancy numbers from Sacnilk tell a fairly straightforward story. The film opened to 26.4% occupancy across 3,800 shows, and held its ground on Day 2 with 28.5% across 3,734 shows – a decent start by most measures.
Things took a turn from Day 3. Despite theatres actually increasing the show count to 4,588 on Sunday, occupancy slid to 14% – a sign that the film wasn’t pulling in casual audiences even over the weekend, when footfall typically peaks.
By Day 4, occupancy had plunged to 8.5 per cent, while Day 5 briefly recovered to 21 per cent before sliding again through the remainder of the week. With only 404 shows scheduled on Day 8, theatre owners have already begun pulling back screens, leaving Dacoit with an increasingly limited theatrical footprint heading into the second weekend. Whether the film can eke out a stronger Saturday and Sunday will be the final measure of its theatrical lifespan.