With release just a day away, Yash's comeback film after KGF: Chapter 2 has crossed Rs 35 crore in Day 1 advance bookings, and trade trackers say the real surge could come from spot bookings on release day itself.

Yash's Toxic: A Fairy Tale for Grown-Ups had recorded a Day 1 advance booking gross of Rs 35.90 crore across all languages by Tuesday evening, with 10,41,503 tickets sold, according to industry tracker Sacnilk. Bookings remain open ahead of the film's worldwide theatrical release on Wednesday, August 26.

That figure places Toxic at No. 4 on the list of South Indian films with the highest Day 1 advance booking gross, behind Pushpa 2: The Rule (Rs 91.24 crore), Yash's own KGF: Chapter 2 (Rs 80.30 crore) and Leo (Rs 46.36 crore), and ahead of L2: Empuraan (Rs 11.28 crore). Earlier in the day, at 3.40 pm, Sacnilk had put the advance gross at Rs 35.31 crore direct, rising to Rs 45.13 crore once blocked seats were included, across 19,704 shows.

The Hindi version alone has crossed Rs 17 crore in net advance bookings, according to trade analyst Nishit Shaw, ahead of pre-release estimates of around Rs 15 crore. Trade analyst Girish Johar said advance collections across all languages had crossed Rs 30 crore, calling it the second-best advance figure of the year after Dhurandhar 2. The film has also sold over a million tickets on BookMyShow, making it only the second Kannada film after KGF: Chapter 2 to cross that mark.

Directed by Geetu Mohandas, Toxic marks Yash's return to the big screen four years after KGF: Chapter 2, in which he plays a dual role as Raya and his son Ticket. The cast includes Kiara Advani, Nayanthara, Huma Qureshi, Tara Sutaria, Rukmini Vasanth and Sudev Nair. The Central Board of Film Certification has given the film an 'A' certificate; it runs 194 minutes and was shot in Kannada and English, with dubbed versions in Hindi, Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam.

Mounted on a reported budget of Rs 500 crore, the film is releasing 503 days after its originally announced date of April 10, 2025, having been pushed back multiple times. It is produced by Venkat K Narayana's KVN Productions and Yash's Monster Mind Creations.

Ahead of release, the Telangana government approved a temporary ticket price hike of Rs 50 in single screens and Rs 100 in multiplexes for ten days, on the condition that the producers contribute Rs 1 crore to a Telugu film employees' welfare fund and screen anti-narcotics advertisements during shows.

For comparison, KGF: Chapter 2 had closed its Day 1 advance at Rs 80.30 crore before going on to collect Rs 116 crore on release day once walk-in ticket sales were added. Trade watchers expect a similar pattern for Toxic, given the film's four-year gap since Yash's last release and the scale of screens booked across the country. Final Day 1 numbers, including spot bookings, are expected once the film opens Wednesday.