Ranabaali day 2 dips 21.1%; Rashmika hails Vijay

Rashmika Mandanna is not measuring Vijay Deverakonda’s latest film only by its box office numbers. At a Hyderabad press conference on Friday evening, she described his title role in the period drama Ranabaali as a “one-man show” and said the transformation reminded her of Allu Arjun in Pushpa 2: The Rule.

From husband to character

Released on October 16, 2026, Ranabaali has drawn mixed reviews. But Rashmika told the media that Vijay’s on-screen presence felt separate from the man she married in Udaipur in February. “When I would speak to him off shooting, there’s one sense of Ranabaali. I’m like, where is Viju?” she said, as quoted by Hindustan Times.

She added that certain roles consume an actor completely, and it took her time to understand the “gravitas” he brought to the part. The comparison, she said, echoed what she saw while working with Allu Arjun: “Bunny sir as Bunny sir and Bunny sir as Pushpa were two different people.”

Shared success, separate screen identities

Rashmika also spoke about how she and Vijay view their careers after their wedding. She said they stopped seeing themselves as individuals long ago. “We share the same pain, we share the same happiness… we are one person now,” she said, adding that she hopes Ranabaali becomes a huge blockbuster along with their future films.

That line matters to fans who followed the pair through Geetha Govindam and Dear Comrade. Rashmika said those earlier collaborations did not affect her the way Ranabaali and Jayamma did.

Day 2 box office

On the commercial front, the film cooled after its first day. Here is where the numbers stood on Saturday, October 17, per Sacnilk:

• India net on day 2: Rs 7.30 crore, down 21.1% from Rs 9.25 crore on day 1
• Cumulative India net: Rs 16.55 crore
• Domestic gross: Rs 19.25 crore
• Overseas gross so far: Rs 7.40 crore
• Worldwide gross after two days: Rs 26.65 crore

Screen counts also dipped from 2,515 on Friday to 2,292 on Saturday. A second-day fall is common for a star-driven Telugu release, but a 21% slide suggests word of mouth will decide the weekend.

Why this matters for fans

The praise is a reminder that a performance can land even when reviews are mixed and collections slip. The Pushpa comparison carries extra weight because Rashmika shared screen space with Allu Arjun in the sequel. Her framing positions Vijay’s Ranabaali as a similar physical and emotional takeover—something audiences can look for beyond the period setting and action set pieces.

For Vijay and Rashmika, the moment doubles as a post-wedding framing of their careers: not his win or her win, but a shared one. If you are planning a theatre visit, judge the title role on its own terms. Rashmika’s comments point to a performance-driven reason to watch, even if the reviews are not unanimous. The weekend numbers will show whether that argument reaches beyond fan circles.

Source: The Times of India