Rocking Star Yash's most awaited pan-India action drama film 'Toxic: A Fairy Tale for Grown-ups' has finally released on the big screen. There was tremendous hype among the fans about this dark-action thriller directed by Geetu Mohandas. However, while social media and a large section of the general audience who walked out of theaters on the first day of its release termed the film's complex story, excessive violence and slow pace as a 'headache' and 'boring', the first day box office figures tell a different story. Despite negative and mixed word of mouth, the film has created a tsunami at the ticket window due to Yash's stardom. Bumper opening despite negative reviews: Jawan, Pathan and Dhurandhar laid to rest. Despite facing heavy criticism from film critics and a section of the audience, 'Toxic' has made huge gains at the domestic and global box office on the first day. According to early box office figures, the film has beaten the first day collection records of Shahrukh Khan's blockbusters 'Pathan' and 'Jawaan' as well as the recently released mega budget film 'Dhurandhar' and Yash's own historical debut film 'KGF Chapter 1' by a huge margin on the opening day. From single screens in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Tamil Nadu to multiplex chains in North India, the effect of advance booking of the film was clearly visible on the first day. Despite the dark tone and serious narrative, Yash's tremendous swag and action scenes played a big role in drawing the audience to the theaters in the initial shows. Why did 'Toxic' miss out on breaking the all-time record of KGF Chapter 2? However, Yash could not succeed in breaking the opening day record of his previous historical blockbuster 'KGF: Chapter 2'. 'KGF Chapter 2', released in the year 2022, created a stir across the country by collecting a gross collection of more than Rs 134 crore on the very first day. Trade analysts believe that the main reason for 'Toxic' not reaching the record of KGF 2 is the content and genre of the film. While KGF was a purely mass-masala, high-octane revenge drama, 'Toxic' is a dark, psychological and adult-oriented fairy tale style thriller, which is completely failing to connect with the family audience and the mass crowd. For this reason, the mixed reaction of the audience after the initial shows partially affected the occupancy of the evening and night shows. Audience bluntly: Great visuals but the storyline became a headache. The reaction of the audience coming out of theaters is becoming increasingly viral on social media. Many viewers say that the film's background score, cinematography and Yash's screen presence are world class, but the screenplay is very scattered and confusing. While giving a review, a part of the audience wrote that the film has a lot of style but the soul is missing, due to which sitting in the theater for more than two hours proves to be a headache. On the other hand, die-hard fans of Yash claim that this film is a new experiment in Indian cinema and to understand it requires a different perspective from the usual masala films. All eyes on the weekend: Will word of mouth be enough to manage earnings? The huge collection on the first day has been possible to a large extent due to Yash's tremendous star power and bumper advance booking. But trade pundits believe that the real test of the film will begin from Monday. If mixed and negative reviews impact Saturday and Sunday ticket sales, the film's lifetime collections may come under pressure. Now all eyes are on whether this dark thriller maintains its momentum in the coming days or whether its pace slows down at the box office due to the dissatisfaction of critics and public.
