Vishwaroopam 2 gets tepid response at Tamil Nadu box office with Rs 13 cr; Pyaar Prema Kadhal gains steam

The second week of August witnessed an exciting clash at the box-office for Kollywood. Bigg Boss Tamil host Kamal Haasan’s espionage thriller Vishwaroopam 2 and former Bigg Boss contestants Harish Kalyan and Raiza Wilson’s romantic drama _Pyaar Prema Kadhal_  went head to head. While the former received mixed reviews from the public as well as critics, the latter emerged as a surprise hit in the trade and has been catering well to its target audiences everywhere across the state. Two more smaller Tamil films such as Azhagumagan and Kadhal Enakku Romba Pudikkum also released on 10 August, but their box-office results have turned out to be entirely inconsequential as far as Independence Day weekend movies are concerned in K’town. [caption id="" align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Stills from Vishwaroopam 2 and Pyaar Prema Kadhal. Image via Twitter[/caption] In Tollywood, the solo release on 9 August, Srinivasa Kalyanam, starring Nithiin, Raashi Khanna, and Nandita Swetha in the lead roles, was panned by critics and has been performing underwhelmingly at the ticket window. However, the holdover superhit Goodachari is performing steadily in a significant number of screens in the Telugu states. Kamal Haasan’s Vishwaroopam has had a tepid response in the opening weekend in Tamil Nadu. Despite release issues in major distribution territories like MR (Madurai and Ramanathapuram), where the film didn’t see the light of day, and Pondicherry, the film has grossed Rs 13.3 cr in the state. The lion’s share of the cumulative TN gross of the spy thriller has come from the Chennai city, where the Haasan-starrer has pulled in an excellent theatrical revenue of Rs 3.02 cr in three days. The Chennai city numbers are incredibly heartening since the advance bookings opened pretty late on 9 August, which is very unusual for a high profile film with an A-list star like Kamal Haasan. In fact, there were no early morning special shows for the movie since distributors believed that there could be financial issues and expected a late issuance of KDM. The Chennai city numbers witnessed a gradual rise from Rs 92 lakh on Friday to Rs 1.03 Cr on Saturday to Rs 1.07 Cr on Sunday, making it the most lucrative area for stakeholders in Tamil Nadu. Talking to Firstpost, a city-based distributor said, “Everyone anticipated a delay in KDM since the film was put on the backburner for the past five years because of a financial quagmire. As expected, the overseas premiere shows were delayed, and the clearance was issued only at the last minute. Despite the delay and the mixed word of mouth from the public, the film earned good numbers in Chennai city. However, the overall response for the film is middling at the ticket window.” While the first part entered the million dollar club in the USA, the sequel is limping towards $4,00,000 at the stateside box-office. In its three-day opening weekend, including the premieres on Thursday, the film has grossed only $3,45,000, which is an underwhelming run. Magnus Movies, which released the movie in the US, will end up with a loss if the project fails to reach the $7,00,000 mark at the box-office. The other Tamil release, Pyaar Prema Kadhal, has been embraced well by moviegoers. The film, which is produced by Yuvan Shankar Raja under his home banner YSR Films, has grossed a whopping Rs 3.45 cr in Tamil Nadu in its three-day opening weekend. The Chennai city territory alone has contributed a good gross of Rs 69 lakh in three days with a spree of housefull shows in multiplexes as well as single screens. Some of the major theatres in the city reported housefull shows for Pyaar Prema Kadhal on Monday too. With the Independence holiday coming up on Wednesday, the film will gather steam and continue to rake in the moolah at the box-office. The film directed by debutant Elan is all set to be a profitable venture for all the stakeholders involved in the project. The single Telugu release Srinivasa Kalyanam has earned poor reviews from the general public as well as the critics and turned out to be a dud at the Tollywood box-office. The film, whose theatrical rights were valued at Rs 27.2 cr, had a dismal opening weekend with a gross of Rs 17.4 Cr from the Telugu states. The movie is likely to be a sinking venture for the distributors involved in the project. Meanwhile, the holdover hit Goodachari helmed by debutant Sashi Kiran, has grossed an impressive cumulative of Rs 15.24 cr in its first week, which is three times the price of the theatrical rights (Rs 5 cr). The film is a clean blockbuster for all the concerned parties in the business.