Exclusive Weekly Box Office Report: South Films Rule Over Bollywood Yet Again

Film trade expert Girish Wankhede writes an exclusive column for Filmibeat, analysing the films released last week.

The dismal performance of Hindi films continued in this week as well. This was the most anticipated week after the COVID-19 lockdowns. The Rakhi festival holiday boasted of a major clash of two big-ticket entertainers with an Independence Day extended weekend of five days. The stakes were high and both Laal Singh Chaddha and Raksha Bandhan had everything a potential blockbuster aims for - huge star quotient and a robust marketing budget to complement the creativity. Still, both fell short of the expectations of moviegoers and the result was disappointing.

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While Laal Singh Chaddha succumbed to its old school routine storytelling of uninspiring characters and patchy outdated screenplay, it's too-stretched length took a toll. Raksha Bandhan was a cliché badly redefined with a regressive tone. Both were old wine in a new or rather old bottle, which audiences rejected whole heartedly. The boycott gang could not do the harm which a weak screenplay did to a starry venture.

Laal Singh Chaddha

Laal Singh Chaddha opened with 11.50 crore on Thursday, August 11, which was far less than expected because it was a holiday and an Aamir Khan film was releasing after four years. Reviews were bad and so was the word of mouth. The collections dropped to Rs 7 crore on Friday, August 12, and then to Rs 8.5 crore on Saturday, August 13. Sunday, August 14 was Rs 9 crore at BO for LSC, which paved the way for another debacle. Monday, August 15 being Independence Day, could not salvage the film and it generated Rs 8.5 crore. Tuesday, August 16 was a dismal Rs 3 crore. Thus, Laal Singh Chaddha made Rs 47.50 crore in six days, which is quite a disappointment considering the landing budget of Rs 180 crore.

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Raksha Bandhan

Raksha Bandhan looked far inferior compared to Laal Singh Chaddha and was poised to do great only owing to its timely emotional patented formula. Raksha Bandhan opened with Rs 8 crore on Thursday, and reduced to Rs 6.25 crore on Friday, and Rs 6 crore on Saturday. Its first Sunday collections stood at Rs 7 crore and Monday was supposed to be bigger due to I-Day holiday. However, the BO reported only Rs 6.5 crore collections on Monday, and it crashed to Rs 2 crore on Tuesday. In toto, Raksha Bandhan gained Rs 35.75 crore in six days, which is again a big setback for an Akshay Kumar film.

Karthikeya 2

Karthikeya 2 is a Telugu adventure thriller, which was simultaneously released in Hindi in some pockets. The sequel of the film Karthikeya, it features Nikhil Siddhartha, Anupama Parameswaran and Anupam Kher. The film was released on Saturday, August 13. The first day BO collections were at Rs 4.97 crore for its Telugu version; Rs 5.51 crore on day 2 i.e. on Sunday, August 14; Rs 6.19 crore on Monday, August 15, and Rs 3.08 crore on Tuesday, August 16. The total for Karthikeya 2 for the first four days stands at Rs 19.75 crore, which is an impressive tally.

The dubbed Hindi version also showed an upward trend and positive word of mouth. Its first day was Rs 7 lakh, second day was Rs 28 lakh and then it shot to Rs 1.10 crore on the third day! Its fourth day was Rs 70 lakh, and the total collections from the Hindi version for Karthikeya 2 stood at Rs 2.15 crore. Going by the sudden PR push, the prospects of Karthikeya 2 look good in both languages.

Gaalipata 2

Gaalipata 2 is another Kannada film making waves after KGF 2 and Vikrant Rona. Directed by Yogaraj Bhat, this is the sequel of Gaalipata, released in 2008. With an ensemble star cast of Ganesh, Anant Nag, Diganth, Pawan Kumar, Vaibhavi Shandilya and Samyuktha Menon, this romantic comedy generated Rs 4.5 crore on its opening day, Rs 5 crore on day 2, Rs 6 crore on day 3 and Rs 7 crore on day 4, making it a hot favorite among trade analysts. In four days, Gaalipata 2 generated Rs 24.6 crore, which is quite an impressive feat.

Viruman

Viruman is a Tamil action comedy featuring Karthi and newcomer Aditi Shankar. Directed by M Muthaiah, it was released on Friday, August 12. Its first day collection was Rs 1.75 crore. It shot up to Rs 7.77 crore on day 2 and Rs 8.87 on day 3. The film made Rs 8 crore on day 4, thus making a total of Rs 32.14 crore in four days. Viruman is another sure shot winner.

Thallumala

Another noteworthy film was the Malayalam language Thallumala, also released on Friday, August 12. Directed by Khalid Rahman, this action comedy features Tovino Thomas, Kalyani Priyadarshan and Shine Tom Chacko. It opened with Rs 3.2 crore on its first day, Rs 3.4 crore on the second day, Rs 3.5 crore on the third day and Rs 2.55 crore on the fourth day. The total for Thallumala is Rs 12.65 crore, and the word of mouth is strong. This is a good sign for a small budget Malayalam film.