'L2: Empuraan' box office collection week 1: After getting theatres in Mumbai post 'Sikandar' debacle, Mohanlal's film eyes strong Friday

Mohanlal's latest film L2: Empuraan is eyeing a strong second Friday after Salman Khan's latest Eid release Sikandar proved to be a damp squib at the ticket counters. Sikandar failed to work well with the audiences due to its lacklustre storyline and subpar performance by Salman Khan in the film. 

Given this, the shows of the latest Salman Khan film have been replaced with more profitable titles, including L2: Empuraan, in many theatres across Mumbai. 

The film made ₹21 crore on its opening day, ₹11.1 crore on its first Friday, ₹13.25 crore on its first Saturday, ₹13.65 crore on its first Sunday, ₹11.15 crore on its first Monday, ₹8.55 crore on its first Tuesday, ₹5.65 crore on its first Wednesday, and around ₹4 crore on its first Thursday. 

With this, the film's total India collection reached ₹88.35 crore as of Thursday at the box office. Empuraan's Malayalam shows had an overall occupancy of 23.26 per cent whereas its Telugu shows logged an 8.43 per cent occupancy, according to film trade portal Sacnilk. 

The film's Tamil and Hindi shows logged an occupancy of 13.72 per cent and 7.72 per cent, respectively. With L2: Empuraan's shows increased across Mumbai, the film's Hindi collections are likely to go up Friday onwards. 

"Mohanlal as Khureshi Ab'raam, with his piercing look, steals the show successfully. One can never guess what's going on in Khureshi Ab'raam's mind, nor what his actions are going to be. Mohanlal's subtle expression makes Khureshi appear more mysterious," India Today's review of the film read. 

Meanwhile, Sikandar has now joined the likes of hyped but underwhelming releases such as Kangana Ranaut's Emergency, Varun Dhawan's Baby John, and Rajinikanth's Vettaiyan. 

Backed by Lyca Productions, Aashirvad Cinemas, and Sree Gokulam Movies, the film is a sequel of the 2019 blockbuster actioner Lucifer. Directed by Prithviraj Sukumaran, L2: Empuraan focuses on a man who leads a double as the enigmatic leader of a powerful global crime syndicate.

Besides Mohanlal, the film stars Prithviraj Sukumaran, Tovino Thomas, Manju Warrier, Abhimanyu Singh, Indrajith Sukumaran, Nikhat Khan, Sachin Khedekar, and Saikumar Santhosh in pivotal roles.