Actor Nagarjuna's "Greeku Veerudu" has done better business compared to the recently released Ventakesh starrer "Shadow" in the opening weekend at the US box office.

"Shadow", which was released on 26 April, earned a total of ₹17.18 lakh from about 52 screens in the first week. But, "Greeku Veerudu" fetched ₹72.14 lakh from about 48 locations in the first three days including the Thursday (2 May) preview.

"Telugu film #GreekuVeerudu USA Fri $ 48,270, Sat $ 55,995. Total [incl Thu previews]: $134,086 [₹72.14 lacs]," film critic and trade analyst Taran Adarsh tweeted.

"Greeku Veerudu" is a family entertainer that has some emotional moments and good performances from the lead pair - Nagarjuna and Nayantara. The movie was originally planned to get released on 26 April, but it was postponed further to avoid clashing with "Shadow's" release as sufficient number of theatres were not available. Finally, it was released on 3 May.

In the first two days of its release including the preview, "Greeku Veerudu" fetched ₹42.02 lakh ($ 78,091). During the weekend, the movie collected around ₹30 lakh ($ 55,995) on Saturday. Sunday's collections are not yet available.

Even though "Greeku Veerudu" is performing better than "Shadow" (which has been declared a debacle in the US), the film has failed to score big at the box office unlike recently released movies like "Baadshah" and "Gunde Jaari Gallanthayyinde".

Jr NTR's "Baadshah" which was released in a record number of screens across the US fetched ₹1.29 cr ($ 234,686) in a single day, smashing the record of Mahesh Babu's "Seethamma Vakitlo Sirimalle Chettu" (SVSC), which had collected $205,347 on its opening day. But the film's collections slowly dropped with new releases and fetched a total of ₹6.88 crores after four weeks at the US box office.

Interestingly, Nithiin's "Gunde Jaari Gallanthayyinde" had a good start collecting $103,015 (around ₹55 lakh) from just 23 screens in the first two days of its release.

With no big releases in the near future, Nag's "Greeku Veerudu" is expected to perform well. The actor, who has been doing varied roles in the last few movies, will be next seen in a biographical-devotional film titled "Sri Jagadguru Aadi Sankara."