Goodachari tops Tollywood box office with Rs 10.2 cr, Kadaikutty Singham is Karthi's highest-grossing film

The first week of August witnessed nearly ten Tamil releases with Arya, Sayyeshaa’s Ghajinikanth being the only notable film, followed by national award-winning actor Thambi Ramaiah’s directorial Maniyar Kudumbam. While the other Tamil releases such as Uppu Puli Kaaram, and Kattu Paya Sir Intha Kaali bit the dust at the box-office, Maniyar Kudumbam had a muted response at the ticket window. Directed by Santhosh Jayakumar of Iruttu Araiyil Murattu Kuthu fame, Ghajinikanth topped the Tamil Nadu box-office for the weekend ending 5 August. The Studio Green production was released in nearly 350 screens in the state, making Ghajinikanth the most extensive release of Arya in his career. The film has grossed close to Rs 6.3 cr at the TN box-office over the weekend, while holdovers like Karthi’s Kadaikutty Singam and Mirchi Shiva’s Tamizh Padam 2 continued to yield profits in their fourth week of release. [caption id=“attachment_4906621” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  The cast of Ghajinikanth/Image from Instagram.[/caption] “Ghajinikanth’s performance is decent, but it could have done better considering that it was Arya’s widest release in his career with 350 screens. The film has pulled a theatrical revenue of Rs 1.14 cr during the opening weekend in Chennai city alone, which is roughly 20% of the total TN cumulative. However, it will be tough for the film to sustain this week considering the middling reviews and not-so-great public word-of-mouth,” said a Chennai-based distributor on the condition of anonymity. Director Pandiraj’s family drama Kadaikutty Singam, which is holding on to 70+ screens in Tamil Nadu in its fourth week, has emerged as the highest-grossing film of Karthi in his career and is on the verge of touching the Rs 60 cr mark in worldwide gross. The film produced by Suriya’s 2D Entertainment is turning out to be one of the leggiest Tamil movies of 2018. CS Amudhan’s parody film Tamizh Padam 2 has reportedly earned a whopping Rs 26 cr until now in Tamil Nadu, making it a profitable venture for all the stakeholders involved. Talking to Firstpost, veteran distributor Tiruppur Subramaniam said, “Kadaikutty Singam’s success is a proof that audiences in B and C centers are craving for good content. Tamil audiences will always embrace family dramas supported by good story-telling. The kind of response we have been getting for the film in its fourth week is quite heart-warming. The Sunday evening shows were almost full in a lot of screens in its fourth week.” In Tollywood, Sashi Kiran Tikka’s directorial debut Goodachari, which hit screens on 3 August, earned rave reviews and topped the box-office with an opening weekend gross of Rs 10.2 cr from the Telugu states. The film’s numbers at the ticket window grew at a descending order since Friday, making the Adivi Sesh and Sobhita Dulipala-starrer a blockbuster already. The theatrical rights for the film have been valued at Rs. 5 cr and the distributors have already recovered their investment in all the territories from just the opening weekend. Goodachari has already earned $400K at the US box-office by Sunday, which is the breakeven number for the film stateside. [caption id=“attachment_4906501” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Goodachari actors Sobhita Dhulipala and Adivi Sesh/Image from Instagram.[/caption] Although a handful of Telugu films released on 3 August, the only other film which has grabbed the attention of movie-goers is actor Rahul Ravindran’s directorial debut, Chi La Sow. The film, which stars Sushanth and Ruhani Sharma as leads, has garnered excellent reviews. It may have missed creating an impact at the box-office, but it is off to a gradual start. With the word-of-mouth picking up, the weekdays look crucial for the film, which is released by Annapurna Studios. Meanwhile, another holdover film Saakshyam, starring Bellamkonda Srinivas and Pooja Hegde as leads, is heading towards a disaster status at the box-office. The film’s worldwide theatrical rights were valued at Rs 25 cr, and so far, it has only managed to collect Rs 17.9 Cr in one week. The upcoming week looks promising with a lot of films like Vishwaroopam 2, Kolamaavu Kokila, Pyaar Prema Kadhal from Tamil and Srinivasa Kalyanam from Telugu are gearing up to hit screens.