Saaho Hindi version crosses Rs 150 cr mark; Nani's Gang Leader earns Rs 27 cr worldwide on opening weekend

Nani’s Gang Leader directed by Vikram Kumar of 24 and Manam fame topped the Andhra Pradesh and Telangana box-office for the weekend of 13-15 September. The movie pulled in a satisfactory theatrical total of Rs 27 cr worldwide from the opening weekend. The pre-release theatrical rights for the film were valued at Rs 30 cr and the comedy thriller will have to sustain well during the weekdays to recover the investments. Produced by Mythri Movie Makers, Gang Leader has crossed the $800K mark in USA and is expected to enter the million-dollar club by the end of the second-weekend run. The Nizam and AP theatrical total of the film is estimated to be Rs 18 cr from the opening weekend. The worldwide distributor share of the movie, which features newcomer Priyanka Mohan, veteran actress Lakshmi, and Saranya Ponvannan in important roles, is pegged at Rs 16.1 cr. Gang Leader opened to fairly positive reviews from critics on 13 September with a day one global total of Rs 11 cr. [caption id=“attachment_7322981” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Nani in a still from Gang Leader. YouTube[/caption] Meanwhile, holdover action thriller Saaho has pulled in a running total of Rs 424 cr in worldwide theatrical sales till now. The movie has sailed past the Rs 300 cr mark in net theatrical revenue in India alone. Since the makers released the film on their own in a lot of territories through different distributors, Saaho has achieved the break-even mark in a handful of regions. The ancillary revenue deals for the film, including the digital, satellite, and other rights are estimated at Rs 130 cr. The Hindi version of Saaho contributed the lion’s share of the film’s theatrical revenue in India. Now, it has crossed the Rs 150 cr net mark in North India, and Saaho has become the fifth Indian film in 2019 to achieve the feat after Kabir Singh, Uri: The Surgical Strike, Bharat, and Mission Mangal. Presented by T-Series, produced by UV Creations and directed by Sujeeth, Saaho has garnered a good total of $11.3 million from foreign territories alone. “Despite panned by critics, Saaho has managed to attain the break-even mark in a lot of crucial territories. In fact, it is still creating new benchmarks at the ticket window in local regions. In Nellore district, Saaho has now surpassed the distributor share of Baahubali: The Beginning and Rangasthalam with Rs 4.3 cr. It’s now the second top-earning film in the territory, only behind Baahubali: The Conclusion,” informs a Hyderabad-based distributor. As we reported last week, Saaho has supplanted the earnings of 2019’s biggest Bollywood superhits such as Kabir Singh and Uri: The Surgical Strike to become the top-earning title of the year. [caption id=“attachment_7289851” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Prabhas. Image from Twitter[/caption] In Tamil Nadu, Siddharth and GV Prakash’s Sivappu Manjal Pachai topped the box-office with a second weekend total of Rs 1.7 cr. While Nani’s Gang Leader, which has music composed by Anirudh Ravichander, hauled in a fantastic total of Rs 1.19 cr in the state and occupied at the second spot at the weekend box-office, Arya’s Magamuni came in at the third position. Ayushmann Khurrana’s Dream Girl took the fourth spot with a solid total of Rs 54 lakhs from the opening weekend. Varun Tej’s Telugu gangster drama Valmiki and Suriya’s action thriller Kaappaan are the biggest south Indian releases of this week. Both films are scheduled to hit screens on 20 September and have fetched good pre-release theatrical numbers. The worldwide theatrical rights of Valmiki directed by Harish Shankar is estimated to be Rs 25 cr. The film, which is an official remake of Karthik Subbaraj’s Jigarthanda, and also stars Atharvaa and Pooja Hegde in the lead roles, will have to earn a global share of more than Rs 25 cr to become a hit at the box-office. The pre-release theatrical rights of Suriya’s Kaappaan are estimated in the range of Rs 52 cr with TN contributing more than Rs 25 cr on Minimum Guarantee basis. Directed by KV Anand and produced by Lyca, Kaappaan also stars Mohanlal, Sayyeshaa, Arya and Boman Irani in essential roles.