Saaho crosses Rs 400 cr mark worldwide; supplants Kabir Singh to become top-grossing Indian film of 2019

Prabhas’ magnum-opus _Saah_o has sprinted past the Rs 400 cr mark in worldwide theatrical sales. After securing a massive opening weekend gross of Rs 276 crore from global theatrical sales, the film has now become the first Indian movie in 2019 to enter the Rs 400 cr club. In 2018, four films (_2.0, Sanju, Simmb_a, and Padmaavat) touched the Rs 400 cr mark in global total. Saaho has supplanted the earnings of 2019’s biggest Bollywood superhits such as Kabir Singh and Uri: The Surgical Strike. At the end of the first week, Saaho, which marked the debut of Shraddha Kapoor in Telugu cinema, sailed past the Rs 350 cr milestone in worldwide total. After the opening weekend, the movie witnessed a slight dip in theatrical sales during the weekdays and amassed a first-week total of Rs 364 cr globally. Directed by Sujeeth and produced by UV Creations, Saaho opened to poor reviews from critics and audiences when it released on 29 August. [caption id=“attachment_7304641” align=“alignnone” width=“1200”]  Prabhas and Shraddha Kapoor in Saaho.[/caption] Now, Saaho has become the fourth highest-grossing south Indian film of all-time after _Baahubali: The Conclusion, 2._0, and Baahubali: The Beginning. In less than a week of theatrical run, Saaho dethroned biggest Tamil blockbusters of Superstar Rajinikanth and Thalapathy Vijay such as Kabali, Enthiran, Mersal, and Sarkar to become the fourth top-earning south Indian project of all-time. It is also Prabhas’ third project to sprint past the Rs 400 cr mark in global receipts after Baahubali: The Beginning and _Baahubali: The Conclusio_n. It must also be noted that Saaho unseated Mahesh Babu’s Maharshi to become the top-grossing title of 2019 in Tollywood in just three days. “In Tamil Nadu, Saaho didn’t pull audiences like the actor’s Baahubali franchise. Although the buzz was good, the movie received poor reviews and it’s one of the main reasons for the film’s below-par performance in the state. In fact, Saaho moved to the seventh position at the box-office in TN this weekend. The film’s total earnings so far in the state are approximately Rs 11 cr,” informs a Chennai-based distributor. The overseas gross of Saaho is estimated as Rs 65 cr in 10 days. The movie touched the $3 million mark in the USA, and the running total stands at $3,115,436 (Rs 22.42 cr). Saaho fetched the third biggest pre-release business for any film after 2.0, and Baahubali 2 with the worldwide theatrical rights estimated at Rs 290 cr, as we had reported earlier. The film would have to earn a global total of Rs 600 cr to be a safe venture for all the stakeholders involved in the mega project. Going by the film’s dismal second-weekend numbers, Saaho is unlikely to show any uptick in footfalls and distributors are expected to incur losses on the project. While new Tamil releases such as Magamuni, Sivappu Manjal Pachai, and Zombie flunked to earn audience’s favor in TN this week, holdover blockbuster Comali has touched the Rs 40 cr mark in theatrical revenue in the state. The success of the film marks Jayam Ravi’s third consecutive hit after Tik Tik Tik and Adanga Maru. The worldwide total of the film is pegged as Rs 52 cr, and the film directed by Pradeep Ranganathan marks Jayam Ravi’s third project to enter the Rs 50 cr club after Thani Oruvan and Tik Tik Tik. Arya and director Santha Kumar’s Magamuni, produced by Gnanavel Raja’s Studio Green, earned a decent gross of Rs Rs 4.3 cr in TN and topped the box-office. Siddharth and GV Prakash’s multi-starrer Sivappu Manjal Pachai pulled in an average total of Rs 3.5 cr and came in at the second spot at the box-office. Yogi Babu’s _Zombi_e sank without a trace at the ticket window with a paltry total of Rs 1.5 cr.