BY SACNILK
If you have a soft spot for the feel-good romances of 90s Tamil cinema, Idhayam Murali is a film designed specifically for that sentiment. Directed by Aakash Baskaran, the movie attempts to rekindle the old magic and nostalgia of that era, often drawing comparisons to the early romantic style of Karan Johar Films. It is a coming-of-age drama that follows a man who finds it impossible to express his love to women at various stages of his life, eventually documenting his journey to finding true love.
On its opening day, the film has managed to find its audience, particularly in the urban centers of Tamil Nadu. Idhayam Murali collected a net of ₹ 1.90 crore across 1,283 shows in India. This resulted in a total India gross collection of ₹ 2.19 crore for the first day. The performance suggests that the film is catering well to the target audience that seeks emotional, character-driven narratives over high-octane action.
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Looking at the state-wise gross distribution, Tamil Nadu was the primary driver of business, contributing ₹ 1.95 crore. In the neighboring states, Karnataka recorded a gross of ₹ 15 lakh, while Kerala contributed ₹ 7 lakh. The rest of India and the APTG (Andhra Pradesh and Telangana) regions together added approximately ₹ 2 lakh to the final tally. These numbers indicate that while the film has a very strong regional focus, it is starting to gain some traction in neighboring southern markets.
With this opening, the film has officially secured a spot in the top 10 Tamil openers of 2026 so far. It currently ranks at the ninth position, ahead of Vaa Vaathiyaare but trailing behind Mankatha and Youth. You can see the full list of top performers for the year in the table below:
Top 10 Tamil Movie Openers of 2026 - India Net CollectionMOVIE NAMEINDIA NET COLLECTIONKaruppu₹ 13.10 CrParasakthi₹ 12.50 CrLIK: Love Insurance Kompany₹ 5.65 CrKara₹ 4.95 CrYouth₹ 3.65 CrMankatha₹ 3.50 CrGatta Kusthi 2₹ 2.70 CrThaai Kizhavi₹ 2.70 CrIdhayam Murali₹ 1.90 CrVaa Vaathiyaare₹ 1.65 Cr
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The occupancy levels for the opening day showed a very healthy growth pattern. The film recorded an overall occupancy of 32.38 per cent for the Tamil 2D version. It started with a quiet morning at 18.54 per cent, but moved up to 29.38 per cent by the afternoon. The evening shows maintained a similar level at 28.23 per cent, but the night shows witnessed a massive jump, reaching 45.15 per cent. This indicates that the movie is gaining strength through positive word-of-mouth as the day progresses.
In the urban circuits, Chennai was the clear standout. The city recorded an overall occupancy of 44.3 per cent across 286 shows, with the night shows reaching an elite level of 65 per cent. Coimbatore also showed strong interest with 32.3 per cent overall occupancy, peaking at 48 per cent at night. Bengaluru saw a more modest overall occupancy of 20.5 per cent, but even there, the night shows climbed to 32 per cent.
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In the national chains (PIC), the film delivered a very steady performance. It sold approximately 15.7k tickets, resulting in a gross of roughly ₹ 26 lakh at a high occupancy rate of 28.2 per cent. PVR led the chains with nearly 10.8k tickets and a gross of ₹ 18 lakh. INOX followed with about 3.9k tickets earning ₹ 6 lakh, while Cinepolis contributed nearly 1k tickets with a gross of around ₹ 1.8 lakh. The occupancy in PVR was particularly impressive, hovering around 34 per cent.
As we enter the second day, Saturday, the momentum seems to be building further. The film is officially trending on BookMyShow, with 5.08k tickets booked in the last hour alone. In a rolling 24-hour cycle, the movie has already crossed 18.25k tickets booked nationally. Chennai remains the heart of this growth, where it recently clocked a peak velocity of 6.04k tickets booked in a single hour. Other centers like Mayiladuthurai are also providing solid support, tracking steady volumes with 3.74k tickets in the last hour. With a very strong BMS rating of 9.1/10 from over 2,000 votes, the film is well-positioned for a significant weekend jump.
Box Office
