Karthi-starrer Kaatru Veliyidai and Cheliyaa have made average collections at the US box office in 3 days and failed to beat the first-weekend business record of Mani Ratnam's OK Kanmani.
Kaatru Veliyidai and Cheliyaa had a huge hype, promotion and the brand names of Karthi and Mani Ratnam, who have got a good fan following in North America. Both the movies were expected to get a superb opening and shatter the records of their previous releases in the country. They were also expected to surpass the $1 million mark at the US box office in the opening weekend.
Both the movies premiered in several screens across the country on Thursday night and garnered a mixed response from the audience. The word of mouth affected its business badly on the following days. Kaatru Veliyidai and Cheliyaa have collected $393,014 (Rs 2.53 crore) at the US box office in the first weekend.
Leading Indian trade expert Taran Adarsh tweeted: "Telugu film #Cheliyaa - USA: Thu $ 27,212, Fri $ 21,257, Sat $ 21,762, Sun $ 9,556. Total: $ 79,787 [₹ 51.53 lakhs]. @Rentrak." He added: "Tamil film #KaatruVeliyidai - USA: Thu $ 65,957, Fri $ 105,429, Sat $ 100,734, Sun $ 41,107. Total: $ 313,227 [₹ 2.02 cr]. @Rentrak."
They shattered the record of Karthi's last release Kaashmor, which minted $278,394 in 70 screens at the US box office in its opening weekend. But the films could not beat the record of Mani Ratnam's last venture OK Kanmani and OK Bangaram, which collected $846153 (Tamil version - $615,968 from 175 screens and Telugu version $230,185 from 39 screens) at the US box office in the first weekend.
ATMUS Entertainment and JollyHits released Kaatru Veliyidai and Cheliyaa in 112 and in 110 screens, respectively, in North America. Both the distribution houses have reportedly shelled out hefty sums on their theatrical rights. Considering their collections in the first weekend, the movies are likely to incur huge losses to the distributors.
