THE KERALA STORY IS A SURPRISE SUPER-HIT OF THE SEASON; PROVES TO BE A BOON FOR THE EXHIBITORS
The exhibitors were gearing up for a dry May. Except for Fast X, not a single film this month was expected to rake in huge numbers. But last Friday’s release The Kerala Story proved to be a surprise. The film generated a lot of buzz and curiosity due to the controversies. The opening initially seemed in the range of Rs. 3-4 crores but soon, the ticket sales increased. It ended up opening at Rs. 6.75 crores. The collections jumped on Saturday and Sunday to Rs. 10.50 crores and Rs. 16 crores respectively. The collections usually drop on the weekdays, with each passing day. In the case of The Kerala Story, it is the opposite. While it collected Rs. 10 crores on Monday, the Tuesday earnings were Rs. 11 crores. The Wednesday collections are expected to be around Rs. 12 crores. As a result, the first week’s collections will be in the range of Rs. 75-78 crores.
All eyes are now on the second weekend as it’ll give an idea of how much the lifetime of the film will be. As of now, it seems like it’ll collect between Rs. 150 and Rs. 200 crores. Crossing the collections of The Kashmir Files (Rs. 246.91 crores) seems unlikely. But nothing can be said for sure at this point.
Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3, meanwhile, has also done well. The word of mouth is positive and its first week collections will be around Rs. 35 crores. It has the potential to cross the Rs. 50 crores mark. It will not enter the Rs. 100 crores club. Yet, it’s a feat considering the recent Marvel films have not got the desired response from the public.
Meanwhile, multiple Hindi and Hollywood films release tomorrow and all of them will face a tough time. The most exciting one seems to be IB 71. It stars Vidyut Jammwal and is also his first production. It is based on an unknown and fascinating chapter of history and is directed by Sankalp Reddy of The Ghazi Attack fame. The buzz is limited and hence, it should open at around Rs. 1 crore.
The other big release is Chatrapathi, a remake of the 2005 Telugu film of the same name, starring Prabhas and directed by S S Rajamouli. This is a rare Hindi remake which stars a South actor, Bellamkonda Sreenivas. The trailer, however, is poor and it looks like a dated film. Also, due to the casting of a South actor, it seems like a dubbed South movie. Its opening will be bad, though it might score in B and C Centres.
Then there are films like Music School, starring Sharman Joshi and Shriya Saran, and A Winter Tale At Shimla and both will sink without a trace. As for Hollywood, two major releases tomorrow are Asterix & Obelix – The Middle Kingdom and Love Again. The latter stars Priyanka Chopra but awareness is negligible. This can affect its box office prospects.