Shankar's latest directorial venture 2.0 may not have impressed the critics, but the sci-fi extravaganza starring Rajinikanth and Akshay Kumar in the lead has certainly turned out to be a crowd puller. After getting cash registers ringing in the first week, the film continued to mint money in its second week and has now surpassed the Rs 175 crore mark at the Indian box office. Now that's mighty impressive because these numbers are just for the Hindi version.  Trade analyst Taran Adarsh took to popular micro-blogging site Twitter and announced the updated numbers a while back. 2.0 Box Office: 5 Milestones Achieved by Rajinikanth-Akshay Starrer!

He wrote, '#2Point0 crosses ₹ 175 cr mark... Has one more week to score before the biggies arrive... [Week 2] Fri 5.85 cr, Sat 9.15 cr, Sun 12 cr, Mon 3.75 cr, Tue 2.95 cr, Wed 2.40 cr, Thu 1.90 cr. Total: ₹ 177.75 cr. India biz. Note: HINDI version.'

Adarsh further tweeted, '#2Point0 biz at a glance...Week 1: ₹ 139.75 cr [8 days; released on Thu] Week 2: ₹ 38.00 cr......Total: ₹ 177.75 cr...India biz. Note: HINDI version. SUPER HIT.'

With such staggering numbers, it's safe to say that Rajinikanth and Akshay's film is unstoppable at the ticket windows despite not-so-great reviews. Made on an estimated budget of Rs 543 crore, 2.0 is the most expensive Indian film made to date. It's also the first 3D movie that has entirely been shot in India. Rajinikanth-Akshay Kumar's 2.0 Beats Avengers Infinity War, Race 3 to be The Most Googled Movie in India in 2018; Tiger Shroff's Baaghi 2 Takes Second Spot.

Even though Sushant Singh Rajput and Sara Ali Khan's much-awaited film Kedarnath released last week on December 7, the film didn't pose any threat to 2.0 at the box office. But with Shah Rukh Khan, Anushka Sharma and Katrina Kaif starrer Zero releasing next week, Rajinikanth's 2.0 will definitely feel the heat at the BO.

So will the mega-budget film manage to create more records before facing stiff competition from Zero? We'll have to wait and watch.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 14, 2018 02:57 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).