Box Office: Karthikeya 2 [Hindi] emerging as another south success story, Do Baaraa hopes to grow

Nikhil in 'Karthikeyan 2', a sleeper hit. (Screen grab from trailer)

It is turning out to be an inexplicable situation at the box office currently. While last week's big-ticket releases Laal Singh Chaddha as well as Rakshabandhan have failed in theatres, south import Karthikeya 2 has emerged out of nowhere and is trying to make a mark with its dubbed Hindi version. On the other hand, new release Do Baaraa has expectedly opened low but is trying to somehow grow.

Let's talk about Karthikeya 2 [Hindi]. No one was even aware of this film when it released last Saturday, an odd day, considering movies traditionally release on Friday, and this was bang in the middle of a long weekend. In fact, even in the south this was hardly an event film to release and there too the start was just about modest. However, word of mouth grew for the film, and how, as the collections continued to rise in the Hindi version with every passing day. Poor response to the new Hindi releases only helped its case further.

As a result, the film started with mere Rs 7 lakh on Saturday and by the time it reached its seventh day, grew over 30 times to Rs 2.46 crore. Now that's truly unbelievable and the only precedence in 2022 for this kind of growth is The Kashmir Files. That film had started on a much higher note though on its opening day [Rs 3.55 crore] and then had grown to Rs 18.05 crore on its seventh day, a jump of more than five times. While that was the case of a film starting on a relatively modest note to reach a higher pedestal, so far Karthikeya 2 is on a different level altogether.

Currently, the film's earnings stand at Rs 8.21 crore. Analysts say the movie could end up making upwards of Rs 25 crore through its theatre run, as it is unlikely to face much competition in the coming weeks - barring Liger, there is no interruption for it right till September 9, when Brahmastra arrives.

Meanwhile the new release of the week, Do Baaraa, has done better than expected on its first day. It seemed like just like Shabaash Mithu, Do Baaraa too would struggle to take a start and open in a similar range of Rs 30-50 lakh. But collections were better than expected, with Rs 0.72 crore coming in. For an A-list actress like Taapsee Pannu and a notable director like Anurag Kashyap, these are still very low numbers. But then when Dhaakad opens at Rs 0.55 crore and Shabaash Mithu at Rs 0.40 crore, that gives an indication of where the benchmark is set.

There is hope, though, that this sci-fi time travel drama could well see some kind of a growth over the weekend since reports and reviews are decent to good, and then this is practically the only notable Bollywood film that has released this week. Pre-pandemic, such genre of films used to double up on Saturdays and then grow further by 50 percent on Sundays. As long as at least that happens, Do Baaraa will do okay business.

As for Laal Singh Chaddha and Rakshabandhan, they will just about go through their second week at the box office. The extended first week of eight days was quite poor for both, with Rs 50.58 crore and Rs 38.72 crore, respectively, coming in. This in fact should have been their collections of the first three days but then audiences chose to look away. In their lifetime run, while Laal Singh Chaddha could end up hitting the Rs 60 crore mark, Rakshabandhan will likely fold up around Rs 45 crore total.