Border 2, the sequel to the 1997 JP Dutta directorial Border, has opened strongly at the box office. The Anurag Singh directorial, featuring an ensemble of Sunny Deol, Varun Dhawan, Diljit Dosanjh and Ahan Shetty, made Rs 30 crore on its first Friday, as per a report by industry tracker Sacnilk.

The war-drama is set to benefit in its first weekend owing to the Republic Day. Moreover, it hasn’t released with any other major Hindi film and can enjoy an uninterrupted run till Rani Mukerji-headliner Mardaani 3 comes into theatres on January 30.

Border 2 had the most theatre occupancy in Jaipur with 52 per cent, followed by Chennai and Kolkata at 49.75 per cent and 47 per cent, respectively. Mumbai surprisingly recorded a low occupancy of 24.5 per cent while National Capital Region (NCR) stood at 42 per cent.

The film, like its predecessor, is set during the India-Pakistan war of 1971 and how the defence forces of Army, Air Force and Navy protected the country from Pak’s aggression during the Battle of Basantar, among others. Border 2 also features Mona Singh, Sonam Bajwa, Anya Singh and Medha Rana.

CE’s review of the film read: “Border 2 might be simping for the defense forces and the country but it doesn’t house blind-hatred. It belongs to the ethos of old school Bollywood where Pakistan is the enemy and not Pakistanis. There is no mention of modern war-film buzzwords like ‘ghar mein ghus ke maarna’ and ‘naya Hindustan’.”