Ram Gopal Varma's Lakshmi's NTR has made a decent collection at the worldwide box office in the first weekend. The film has become highest grosser for RGV in recent time, by crossing Rs 10 crore in three days.
Before its release, Lakshmi's NTR had huge hype, curiosity and expectations generated by its promos. But the TDP protested against the movie for its controversial subject and moved the High Court, seeking its ban in Andhra Pradesh till the general elections are over. The HC ordered the maker to delay its release in the state till April 15 and allowed its screening other parts of the globe from March 29.
The distributors premiered the uncensored version of Lakshmi's NTR in 125 screens across the US on March 28, a day before it hit theatres in India and it opened to good response. The movie, which got a U certificate from the censor board, had a good advance booking in India and debuted with a good response on March 29. It collected over Rs 4 crore gross at the worldwide box office on the first day.
The Ram Gopal Varma-directed film was able to meet the viewers' expectation that it has created before its release and got a positive response from them. The word of mouth boosted its collection on the following days. As per early estimates, Lakshmi's NTR has collected over Rs 10 crore at the worldwide box office in the first weekend. It has earned Rs 5.66 crore for its distributors in three days.
Lakshmi's NTR portrays Andhra Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu as the backstabber of his father-in-law. Hence, no distributors from the Telugu states apparently came forward to buy its theatrical rights. Mumbai-based NH Studioz, which distributed films like Pink, Jab Harry Met Sejal, Half Girlfriend, Tubelight, entered Tollywood by acquiring the rights of Lakshmi's NTR and released it across India.
It was rumoured that NH Studioz has shelled out Rs 9 crore on the global theatrical rights of Lakshmi's NTR, which has recovered 62.88 percent of the distributors' investment in just three days. The movie is expected to return the remaining amount with a small profit share to them by the end of its first week.
Lakshmi's NTR has beaten the record of Nandamuri Balakrishna's NTR: Mahanayakudu, which collected less than Rs 5 crore gross at the worldwide box office in the first weekend and earned Rs 3.36 crore for its distributors in three days.
