Highlights
- SS Rajamouli's RRR will compete with the stupendous success of Baahubali franchise pan-India
- RRR Hindi has seen a solid start but the collections will have to rise from here on
- RRR stars Ram Charan and Jr NTR. It is made on a huge budget and over a period of four years
SS Rajamouli's directorial RRR: Rise, Roar, Revolt has released in cinema halls on March 25. It stars Ram Charan and Jr NTR in lead roles and Olivia Morris, Samuthirakani, Alison Doody and Ray Stevenson round off the cast of this action-fueled period drama. It also features cameo roles from Bollywood stars Alia Bhatt and Ajay Devgn. The hype surrounding RRR was huge and the cast made sure the momentum going in was on a high as they promoted the movie until the day of release. Now, it remains to be seen how much magic this big-budget movie weaves, collection-wise.
Read: RRR success relying on 'brand Rajamouli'. This is the Baahubali director's hitmaking formula
The early box office estimate for RRR has come in. A report in Box Office India shares that the movie collected Rs 19 crore plus for the Hindi version on its opening day. It was suggested that RRR has Rs 8 crore collections through advance bookings for the Hindi version. The first-day earnings are solid for this movie in Hindi considering it has lead stars from the South film industry and carries the perception is of a 'dubbed' film, although that is not the case as it is a multi-language release. It will be interesting to see where the collections go from here. RRR has taken the second-best opening during the pandemic after Akshay Kumar's Sooryavanshi (Rs 26.11 crore).
However, RRR's collections are way less than Rajamouli's runaway hit Baahubali: The Conclusion (2017), which netted Rs 41 crore on Day 1 in Hindi. It seems like RRR's box figures will have an uphill task in matching up to Baahubali franchise's success in any manner, but it may still come out to be a hit. RRR is made on a huge budget (estimated to be USD 55 million or Rs 418 crore, as per Variety) and expectations are high from it.
Read: RRR: Ram Charan's wife Upasana Konidela turns into a fangirl watching hubby's film | VIDEO
As per BOI report, RRR did good collections in Odisha and parts of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar but the business could have been better in NCR. Since The Kashmir Files has done phenomenal business in the Hindi belts for two weeks, the viewer sentiment is strong about the big screen experience and Rajamouli's name could very well pull more audience to the theaters on Saturday and Sunday. One of the reasons for this relatively low start could be the higher ticket prices for the film. Across the country, many multiplex chains have hiked the ticket prices for RRR and this will discourage people from going to the cinema halls.
The report further shares that RRR will have to pick up pace in the North markets or rely on Maharashtra audience to do really huge numbers. As compared to the rest of the Hindi belts, South stars have more appeal and face value in Maharashtra.