The latest North and South film industry clash at the box office is between The Kashmir Files and Radhe Shyam, both of which were released on March 11. The box office report on day one of the Prabhas and Pooja Hegde-starrer has been dubbed as 'disappointing' outside of the Southern markets. It collected Rs 4.50 crore in Hindi. These figures are quite less considering the scale on which Radhe Shyam is mounted and how it was positioned as a pan-India film ahead of release.
Read: The Kashmir Files: Anupam Kher thanks fans as Vivek Agnihotri's film gets 10/10 rating on IMDb
As per Box Office India, even though Radhe Shyam opened to a good response in Telugu, which is its primary market, outside of the state, it hasn't really made a dent, collections-wise. The biggest contributor outside was Maharashtra where south stars have a following. On the other hand, Anupam Kher and Mithun Chakraborty-starrer The Kashmir Files did a good business of Rs 3.25 crore and managed to stand tall in the face of what was expected to be 'Prabhas storm' at the box office.
When compared with the day one collections of Prabhas' last release Saaho in Hindi, which was about Rs 25 crore, Radhe Shyam's collections are dismal. BOI report claims that going forward, chances are very slim for Radhe Shyam to earn well outside of its home territory. Moreover, the movie's opening day collections in Telugu are in the range of Rs 30 crore, which is similar to Bheemla Nayak, Vakeel Saab and Pushpa: The Rise.
Apart from The Kashmir Files, Alia Bhatt's Gangubai Kathiawadi, which is looking to end its second-week collections on a high with a total of Rs 101.47 crore after releasing on February 25, is still posing a challenge for Radhe Shyam. BOI says that going by the opening day, Radhe Shyam's Hindi collections may turn out to be 'disappointing' and the chances of seeing a huge jump on Saturday is unlikely.
Meanwhile, The Kashmir Files could emerge a hit. It was released in a limited number of screens (700 as per BOI) and is targeting multiplex audiences. A good collection on Saturday and the upward trend will result in a good first-weekend collection. At Rs 3.25 crore, the movie has seen a better opening than Rajkummar Rao and Bhumi Pednekar's Badhaai Do, which earned Rs 1.39 crore on day one after releasing on February 11.
