Toxic opened with around ₹140 crore worldwide, but its collection dropped sharply to nearly ₹37 crore on day two. By day 15, its worldwide collection stood at around ₹339.32 crore.
Taran Adarsh blamed weak content
Trade analyst Taran Adarsh said the film’s weak story and lack of grip were the main reasons for its poor performance. He gave it two stars, praising Yash and the action but criticising the writing, especially in the second half.
More competition affected its run
As other films like Hanuman Ansh and Mirzapur: The Movie got more screens, Toxic’s theatrical run was further affected.
Yash’s star power drove the opening
According to Taran Adarsh, Yash’s popularity, especially after KGF: Chapter 2, helped Toxic get a strong opening. After a four-year gap, audiences were excited to see him back on the big screen. However, the sharp drop in collections after day two showed that star power alone could not sustain the film.
₹300 crore loss is only an estimate
Reports have suggested that Toxic suffered a loss of around ₹300–350 crore. An Aaj Tak report put the production budget at around ₹450 crore, with the total investment crossing ₹500 crore. However, Taran Adarsh said the exact loss can only be confirmed by the producer after considering the film’s theatrical, digital, satellite and music rights. Therefore, the ₹300-crore figure should be treated as an estimate.
‘Hanuman Ansh’ and ‘Mirzapur’ also take over screens
Amid ‘Toxic’s’ weak performance, two films-‘Hanuman Ansh’ and ‘Mirzapur: The Movie’-have established a strong hold at the box office. According to Taran Adarsh, after the first week of ‘Toxic’, several cinemas reduced the number of screens allocated to it and gave them to films that were doing better business.
However, he says this is not an unusual case involving only Yash’s film. In the film industry, when a film does not perform well and another is attracting audiences, theatre operators generally allocate more screens to the film that is doing better business.
The recent box-office trend shows the same. Both ‘Mirzapur: The Movie’ and ‘Hanuman Ansh’ have maintained a stronger hold than ‘Toxic’.
The real setback: Audiences did not return after the big opening
Looking at ‘Toxic’s’ overall performance, the film’s biggest failure was not a weak opening but its inability to sustain momentum after a strong start. Yash’s popularity brought a large number of viewers to the film on its first day. However, weak storytelling and mixed audience reactions led to a sharp drop in earnings from the second day onwards. After that, films such as ‘Hanuman Ansh’ and ‘Mirzapur: The Movie’ drew the audience’s attention.
That is why, despite its multi-crore budget and the presence of superstar Yash, ‘Toxic’ could not maintain its initial momentum. According to Aaj Tak, the film’s worldwide collection stood at around ₹339.32 crore by its 15th day, a figure considered quite low in comparison with its heavy budget.
