Mythri and Benkipatna
'Mythri' and 'Benkipatna'

Puneeth Rajkumar's "Mythri" has debuted with fantastic response to become the biggest Sandalwood opener of 2013, while "Benkipatna" has started on a decent note at the box office.

Ever since it was announced, "Mythri" starring Puneeth Rajkumar, Malayalam superstar Mohanlal, Bhavana and Archana in the leads, has been creating positive buzz in the media. The makers have had good publicity for the film. The curiosity created by its music and promos helped the film to registered a decent amount of advance booking everywhere.

"Mythri", which was delayed by a week, released in around 250 cinema halls across Karnataka, including some screens in Chennai and other cities of India. The movie registered an average of 70 per cent occupancy in multiplexes and 80 to 90 per cent occupancy in single screens in the morning show on Friday. The film ran to packed houses at several centres.

The Puneeth Rajkumar starrer got positive response from viewers, who watched the first show. With the word-of-mouth playing its magic, "Mythri" witnessed good growth in its business in the subsequent shows. Trends show the film has grossed approximately ₹1.75+ crore at the box office on the first day of its release.

"Mythri" has shown further improvement and running houseful at many centres on Saturday. The film is sure to do better than its opening day collection. It has very good amount of advance booking for Sunday. Overall, it is expected to conclude the first week with fantastic collection.

"Benkipatna" starring Pratap Narayan, Anushri, Prakash Belawadi and Arun Sagar, is also one of the much-hyped Kannada movies and its promos have created lot of curiosity among film goers before its release. Released in a limited number of cinema halls, the movie opened to good response in the morning show on Friday and showed decent growth in the later shows on its opening day.

As per early trends, "Benkipatna" has grossed less than ₹1 crore at the box office on the first day. The film is expected to show good growth on Saturday and Sunday and end the first weekend on a high note.