South Indian offerings bolster movie box office as north India remains dull
Premium- The Pawan Kalyan-starrer Vakeel Saab, a remake of Amitabh Bachchan’s Pink, made around Rs37.50 crore on its opening day
South Indian cinema, led by Telugu court drama Vakeel Saab, brought some joy to the Indian movie box office this weekend though north India, which primarily relies on Hindi film fare, remained dull. The Pawan Kalyan-starrer, a remake of Amitabh Bachchan’s Pink, made around Rs37.50 crore on its opening day, according to trade website Box Office India, the highest for a film in India post the pandemic, beating Tamil film Master that had notched up Rs35 crore in January. While Andhra Pradesh has permitted 100% seating capacity in movie theatres for the time being, neighbouring states Tamil Nadu and Karnataka have both imposed 50% limits.
Meanwhile, Dhanush’s Tamil film Karnan is looking at gross collections of Rs7 crore on its opening day, also news to celebrate.
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“South leads yet again. Telugu film Vakeel Saab (Pawan Kalyan) and Tamil film Karnan (Dhanush) are setting the box office on fire. The cinema business gets a massive boost when the combination—content and numbers—complement each other," trade analyst Taran Adarsh tweeted.
Apart from Andhra Pradesh, Vakeel Saab has also managed to draw crowds in Bengaluru and other centres of Karnataka, besides being released in some Hindi-speaking belts where collections remained limited. Despite the second wave of covid-19 infections, the film is likely to record one of the best openings in the history of Telugu cinema.
Apart from India, both south Indian offerings debuted in international markets such as Australia and New Zealand where opening day collections were heartening given current circumstances. While Vakeel Saab made A$ 147,571 (Rs84.07 lakh) and NZ$ 10,667 (Rs5.61 lakh) in Australia and New Zealand respectively, Karnan managed A$ 37,815 (Rs21.54 lakh) and NZ$ 4,991 (Rs2.62 lakh) in the two locations respectively.
Meanwhile, Hollywood monster flick Godzilla vs Kong has continued its run in India, making Rs9 crore in its second week and taking its two-week total to Rs49 crore. The film should be able to benefit from the absence of new releases in places where cinemas are operational. Box Office India said the film will easily cross the Rs50 crore mark in domestic earnings but the chunk coming in from the Hindi-speaking markets, or beyond south India, will hover around Rs16-17 crore, which is lower than what Bollywood horror comedy Roohi had collected from these territories.
In other words, as trade analysts point out, the Indian film business still needs that big Bollywood blockbuster to bounce back to recovery. As things stand now, with several states under lockdown or under curfew and Hindi films deferred, that still seems some time away.
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