TAMIL NADU :-
Though two production companies have triggered fan fights through bloated gross figures, the truth is both the films are doing well and the gap between them is just a little over 10%. Viswasam achieved breakeven couple of days back and by the end of tomorrow Petta will cover the advances paid by distributors.
Baring the first 2 days and the last 2 Pongal holidays where Viswasam lead comfortably, Petta was neck to neck with the Ajith film. This is due to Ajith's opening pull in the state, his fan following mostly consists of youngsters who prefer to watch his films on the first day itself. The combo's last film Vivegam had the best advance bookings of 2017 but ended up as a box office disaster. However strong Ajith maybe in commanding openings, he is more vulnerable to negative Word-Of-Mouth than his rival Vijay. After Day 1, a Vijay film with negative Word-Of-Mouth collects more than an Ajith film with the same talk.
With Petta around for competition, Viswasam would have crashed on the 2nd day itself If it was received like Vivegam but Viswasam managed to hold its ground and emerge as Ajith's highest grosser in TN.
Apart from that Viswasam has set a no. of records in the state. A "B" center theater that comes under Coimbatore area has contributed 26 Lakhs gross in the extended week. 2018's highest grosser Sarkar did 17 Lakhs in full run. In Trichy's Megastar/Star theater, Viswasam has grossed a record 50 Lakhs in 11 days.. In Priya Cinemas located in Vedaranyam, Viswasam is the 2nd highest grosser after 7amArivu and the 2nd highest after Baahubali 2 in Lalgudi Anbu Cinemas. While Petta is flexing its muscles in B centers like Pollachi.
In most areas where Viswasam is leading in TN, Petta is either less than 10% or close to 15% behind Viswasam the difference makers are Madurai & North South Arcot. For instance, the combined 1st week gross of both films in Madurai is close to 19 crores in which Viswasam was more than 11.5 crores. From Day 1, Petta is leading in Chennai City and Chengalpet overall total has been neck to neck with Viswasam.
The situation outside TN is completely different and is also the reason why Petta should not have released for Pongal. Recalling events from the past, Rajinikanth has never been dependent on Pongal or Diwali to set the box office on fire.
Sivaji The Boss, Enthiran, Kabali (Though a huge loss venture in TN & AP-TG) released on a working day and became the highest grosser of all time in Tamil. A normal working day becomes like a festival when a Rajinikanth film releases.
Post Enthiran, KS Ravikumar failed miserably in making a proper Rajinikanth film.Pa. Ranjith for the most part was confused and struggled to strike a balance between Rajinikanth "The Actor" and "The Superstar". Kaala was an improvement but the badly timed release and Rajinikanth's off-screen troubles prevented mainstream audience from judging the film with an open mind.
Same is the case with 2.0, it did quite well in the exam season but wasn't good enough for the film's staggering economics.
Petta was Rajinikanth's chance to revive his craze and retire as the undisputed superstar after doing few more films. Fortunately, Viswasam & Petta together gave the highest ever 11 day footfalls for theaters and both are profitable for all stakeholders in TN.
But Sun Pictures's decision to release Petta for Pongal still cost it badly.
Here is why,
Rajinikanth commands huge pre-release business throughout South India & Overseas. He requires proper spacing to perform uniformly in all release stations.
Pongal a.k.a. Sankranthi is celebrated with much fanfare in Telugu as well. At least 2 biggies and a medium budget Telugu film release every year in this period. At a time when theaters struggle to fairly allot shows to their own films, how can they make room for a dubbing film ?
Excluding Robo franchise, a standard Rajinikanth film has potential to collect 30 crores share in AP/TG if its positively received. Petta managed to get only 275 screens and is looking at a closing share of around 6 crores which is only 20% of what it could have collected with a proper release date. The situation is even worse in Hindi where its a washout.
In Karnataka, Petta has grossed 16.6 crores in 11 days, it has a spot among the Top 10 Tamil grossers but is still more than 5 crores short of breakeven. With a good release date, Petta could have bettered this in the opening weekend itself. Viswasam grossed a healthy 9+ crores in 13 days. While in Kerala, both the films are disasters with Petta performing comparatively better.
In USA, Petta has grossed $2,406,529 in 11 days and will breakeven in a while but it could have performed much better If not for the surprise Telugu blockbuster F2. Viswasam on the other hand has grossed $257,745 but won't be touching $300 K breakeven mark which it could have done comfortably If Petta was absent.
Same is the case in Australia where Viswasam has grossed A$ 150,301 in 11 days, more than A$ 100K short of breakeven. Petta with a gross of A$ 532,597 is only behind the lifetime grosses of 2.0 & Baahubali 2 (Tamil).
In Malaysia, Viswasam outperformed Petta on the 2nd weekend. Though Petta has done good business in Gulf, UK & some European markets, it won't breakeven as Viswasam has eat into a part of its biz. Likewise Viswasam is also yet to breakeven in some overseas markets despite doing decent biz.
If Petta didn't come, Viswasam would have performed lot better outside TN.
Petta could have performed uniformly with a good release date. The ending is bittersweet, there is no collateral damage but the clash is still uncalled for.
No comments:
Post a Comment