Sudheer Babu's "Bhale Manchi Roju" (BMR) has turned out to be a big money-spinner at the box office in its first weekend, beating "Soukyam", "Mama Manchu Alludu Kanchu" (MMAK) and "Jatha Kalise".

"Bhale Manchi Roju", "Mama Manchu Alludu Kanchu" and "Jatha Kalise" released on 25 December, while "Soukyam" hit the screens a day before Christmas. All four Telugu films had decent promotion before release. Trade expert had predicted that Tollywood would witness a big clash among the four.

"Soukyam", which released on 24 December, had an average advance booking for its opening day. Released in 500+ screens, the movie opened to good response everywhere, but could not beat the records of Gopichand's previous films. It received mixed response from viewers, and the word of mouth took a toll on its business on subsequent days.

Its makers have not revealed its earnings. If we are to go by early estimates, "Soukyam" has collected approximately Rs 10 crore gross at the worldwide box office in the first weekend. The film is estimated to have fetched Rs 7 crore to its distributors. This romantic comedy entertainer, which has been made with Rs 15 crore, has to show big growth to recover its production cost.

Before its release, the promos of "Bhale Manchi Roju" had generated a lot of attention. In addition, the makers had had a massive promotion, which helped it register huge amount of advance booking. The movie opened to superb response with average occupancy crossing 70%, and ran to packed houses in many centres across the Telugu states. It was the biggest opener for Sudheer

The Sriram Aditya-directed crime comedy received positive response and the word of mouth took its business upwards on the next few days. "Bhale Manchi Roju" is estimated to have collected over Rs 12 crore at the worldwide box office in the first weekend, and its estimated share for the distributors stands at Rs 7.50 crore.

"Mama Manchu Alludu Kanchu" also had decent hype and promotion, and debuted to good occupancy. The movie had received a mixed response from the audience, which affected its business over the weekend. The Mohan Babu-Allari Naresh-starrer is estimated to have collected Rs 8 crore at the worldwide box office in three days, with distributors' share of Rs 5.50 crore.

When compared to these three movies, "Jatha Kalise" looks small in terms of budget, promotion, star power and volume of release. The movie debuted to average occupancy and could not show a big jump over the weekend. The film is estimated to have grossed approximately Rs 4.5+ crore at the global box office in three days, and its distributors' share stands at Rs 3 crore.

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