The Paradise got a ₹500 opening act
Telangana permitted premium pricing for Nani’s film. Its box-office numbers come with similarly premium footnotes.
Premium ticket prices and unverified claims surround the film’s reported opening figures.
Analysis | Entertainment
Telangana permitted The Paradise a ₹500 special show on September 23, followed by higher ticket rates for selected shows through October 3. The reported permission allowed an additional ₹48 on single-screen tickets and ₹95 in multiplexes from September 24 to 27, then ₹23 and ₹45 respectively from September 28 to October 3, according to reports citing Home Department Memo No. 21/HOME-GEN2/2026. The memo itself has not been independently obtained.
That matters when the film’s opening numbers arrive wearing two different labels. The makers claimed ₹136 crore worldwide in three days. Trade tracking later reported ₹138.25 crore worldwide after four days, including ₹109 crore in India and ₹29.25 crore overseas. Neither is an audited collection statement, and the reported totals cannot be compared with ordinary-rate openings without accounting for the ₹500 show and enhanced prices.
The Telangana High Court also questioned the last-minute permission, saying the memo did not record reasons for the hike and was issued just days before release. The court listed the matter for October 6. The film may have found a paradise at the box office; the paperwork was still looking for its reasons.