They Call Him OG, starring Pawan Kalyan and Emraan Hashmi, has stormed the box office with a record-breaking opening. Released on September 25, the gangster drama raked in an estimated Rs 70 crore in India across all languages on its first day. Adding the presale collections of Rs 20.25 crore, the film’s total opening day haul touched an impressive Rs 90.25 crore. Reportedly, the film earned around Rs 150 crore globally, making it the biggest Indian opener of 2025.

According to Sacnilk, the Telugu version dominated with a massive 69.35 per cent occupancy on Thursday, peaking at 77.51 per cent during night shows. The Tamil version registered 18.36 per cent occupancy, while Hindi and Kannada versions stood at 10.37 per cent and 9.19 per cent, respectively.

In North America, They Call Him OG set new benchmarks by emerging as the highest-grossing Telugu film of 2025 from its premiere shows alone. It also secured the fourth-biggest Telugu premiere day ever in the US, ahead of major releases like Jr NTR’s Devara: Part 1 and Prabhas’ Salaar: Part 1.

This success marks a strong comeback for Pawan Kalyan, who faced a setback earlier this year with Hari Hara Veera Mallu.

With this historic opening, They Call Him OG has outshined the debuts of recent blockbusters Chhaava and Saiyaara, and even surpassed Rajinikanth’s underwhelming Coolie. It also beat Mohanlal’s L2: Empuraan.

The buzz around OG was already sky-high before release, thanks to extraordinary advance bookings. With presales of Rs 20.25 crore, the film scored the fifth-highest advance booking in Indian cinema history – beating even biggies like Kalki 2898 AD (Rs 55.3 crore), Devara (Rs 49.9 crore), and Salaar (Rs 49 crore).

Directed by Sujeeth and produced by D. V. V. Danayya under DVV Entertainment, They Call Him OG features Pawan Kalyan as Ojas Gambheera, popularly known as OG.

The action-crime thriller follows his return to Mumbai’s underworld a decade after disappearing, only to confront Omi Bhau (Emraan Hashmi), a ruthless new kingpin. Themes of power, betrayal, and redemption play out against the gritty backdrop of Mumbai’s criminal underworld.

The film also stars Priyanka Mohan, Arjun Das, Prakash Raj, Subhalekha Sudhakar, Rao Ramesh, Sriya Reddy, Harish Uthaman, Abhimanyu Singh, Ajay Ghosh, Saurav Lokesh, Vennela Kishore, and Akira Nandan.

Mumbai, Sep 25: Aryan Khan, the son of Bollywood megastar Shah Rukh Khan, has once again landed into troubled waters. In a new development, the IRS officer Sameer Wankhede has filed a defamation suit against Red Chillies Entertainment Pvt Ltd, owned by actors Shah Rukh Khan and Gauri Khan, the streaming giant Netflix and other parties.

The lawsuit has been filed in the Delhi High Court. In his petition, Sameer has sought a permanent injunction against the web series and damages. The issue has emerged after Aryan took a dig at Sameer, who detained him from a cruise in Mumbai in October 2021 over the alleged possession of narcotics.

Sameer Wankhede has alleged that the recently released OTT series ‘The Ba***ds of Bollywood’, directed by Aryan, has shown false, malicious and defamatory content. He also alleged that the image of anti-drug enforcement agencies has been tarnished and shown negatively, thereby undermining public trust in law enforcement agencies.

The series features a sequence where a drug enforcement agency officer, bearing striking resemblance to Sameer, raids a party, similar to how the latter raided a cruise party in the October of 2021.

Sameer Wankhede has claimed that the webseries has deliberately biased and defamatory content against him. He also alleged that the Sameer Wankhede and Aryan Khan case is currently pending in the Bombay High Court and a special NDPS court in Mumbai.

He alleged that a character in the web series is shown saying, “Satyamev Jayate” and immediately after that the character is seen making an obscene gesture. It is an insult to the slogan which is part of the national emblem and is an offence punishable under the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971.

It has also been alleged that the content of the series violates various sections of the Information Technology Act and the Indian Penal Code as it attempts to hurt national sentiments by using obscene and objectionable content.

In his suit, Sameer Wankhede has sought damages of Rs 2 crore, which he proposes to donate for the treatment of cancer patients at Tata Memorial Cancer Hospital.

The series is produced by Red Chillies Entertainment Pvt Ltd, and is available to stream on Netflix.

On 2 October 2021, the NCB, headed by Sameer, had raided a cruise ship off Mumbai during a party and alleged possession of drugs among some attendees. Aryan Khan, along with others, was arrested on charges under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.

However, Aryan received a clean chit from the NCB, as the agency stated that no material evidence was found to connect him to the case, leading to the dropping of charges against him. The NDPS court had also asked Aryan’s passport to be given back to him after he was given the clean chit.

Mumbai, Sep 22: On the first day of Navratri, the makers of “Mardaani 3” unveiled a new poster of the upcoming film setting up an epic battle between good and evil.

Yash Raj Films’ on Monday shared the poster on Instagram. The poster focuses on a close-up of Rani’s hand holding a black handgun, pointing downward. The blurry background features a yellow police barricade with the text “DELHI POLICE” prominently visible.

The caption read: “On the auspicious Day 1 of Navratri, here’s to celebrating the victory of good over evil. #RaniMukerji returns as top cop Shivani Shivaji Roy in Mardaani 3 to investigate the most challenging case of her career. #Mardaani3 in cinemas 27th February, 2026.

Directed by Abhiraj Minawala, the film is slated to release on February 27, 2026.

‘Mardaani’, produced by Yash Raj Films, is the biggest solo female-led franchise in Hindi cinema which came into force 11 years ago. The film franchise has since garnered love and acclaim for its taut storytelling. The blockbuster franchise has received unanimous love from people and has attained a cult status amongst cine-lovers.

‘Mardaani 3’ will see Rani Mukerji reprise the role of a daredevil cop, Shivani Shivaji Roy, who selflessly fights for justice.

Rani had earlier revealed that the edge of the seat thriller is ‘dark, deadly and brutal’ and it immediately piqued curiosity amongst netizens, the fans of the star and the franchise.

‘Mardaani’, which was released in 2014, was directed by Pradeep Sarkar. The second instalment was directed by Gopi Puthran, who wrote the first part of the film franchise.

While ‘Mardaani’ followed the story of human-trafficking, ‘Mardaani 2’, which was released in 2019, followed the story of a psychopath, rapist and murderer. The film franchise is known for sketching dreadful characters of its villains who are eventually countered by the titular character symbolising the victory of good over evil.