Shah Rukh Khan's "Dilwale" and Ranveer Singh's "Bajirao Mastani" have taken a toll on the collection of Varun Tej's "Loafer" and Dhanush's "Nava Manmadhudu" at the Andhra Pradesh and Telangana (AP/T) box office in the opening weekend.
"Loafer" was released in over 500 screens across these Telugu-speaking states on 17 December, a day before other three movies hit the screens. Having good advance bookings, the movie debuted with fantastic response and collected approximately Rs 5.5 crore gross at the AP/T box office on the first day. Its distributor share stood at Rs 3.75 crore on its opening day.
The word-of-mouth was expected to take its business upwards on Friday, but The Varun Tej starrer slipped down considerably as it clashed with "Dilwale", "Bajirao Mastani" and "Nava Manmadhudu". The movie could not show much growth on Saturday and Sunday too. It is estimated to have grossed Rs 15 crore at the AP/T box office on the first weekend.
"Loafer" is estimated to have fetched a share of Rs 10 crore to the distributors of these regions. Trade experts from the industry describe its business as average. Andhra Box Office tweeted, "Despite A Largely Decent Wom, #Loafer Has been very Ordinary this Opening weekend."
"Nava Manmadhudu" is the Telugu dubbed version of "Thanga Magan" starring Dhanush, Samantha and Amy Jackson, who have got decent fan following in both the states. Before its release, the movie witnessed decent hype and promotions. It was expected to have massive release in the states.
But "Nava Manmadhudu" hit less than 150 theatres; it did not get enough number of screens due to "Dilwale" and "Bajirao Mastani". Many film goers kept groaning for not finding the screening of the film nearby theatres in their areas on its opening day. Adding to this, the screening of the movie started late in the afternoon due to some financial issue.
"Nava Manmadhudu" received good response in a limited number of theatres. The viewers' demand forced the distributors to increase the number of shows on its second day. The film witnessed decent growth on Saturday and Sunday. As per early estimates, the movie has grossed Rs 5+ crore at the AP/T box office on the first weekend and its distributors' share stands at Rs 3.50 crore.
Both the Bollywood movies had a massive release in both the states. "Dilwale" was released in 125 cinema halls in Nizam region and it had more than 10 shows in some of the multiplexes in this area. "Bajirao Mastani" was released in Hindi and Telugu languages over 90 theatres in this region. Like "Dilwale", it had also got extended shows in all the multiplexes.
Both Shah Rukh Khan and Ranveer Singh's movies have got decent openings and shown good growth on Saturday and Sunday. "Dilwale" and "Bajirao Mastani" are estimated to have grossed over Rs 10 crore at the AP/T box office on the first weekend.
