Box Office: Liger (Hindi) flops, Karthikeya 2 (Hindi) heading for a lifetime of over Rs 30 crore

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

Liger (Hindi) has flopped at the box office, with first week collections of a mere Rs 18.50 crore. The film saw good collections on late night Thursday paid preview shows with Rs 1.25 crore coming in and then its first day was decent too at Rs 4.50 crore. However collections started falling from Saturday onwards and by the time it was Monday, the film had crashed.

It’s a new trend that has been seen post pandemic when films are no more seeing a drop from Monday onwards but cracks are visible from Saturday itself and then the fall starts from Sunday. Unlike earlier times when films used to survive at least a weekend at the box office, that’s not quite happening anymore as reports have begun to fly at a very rapid pace on social media and on other media outlets.

The poor numbers for Liger, the much hyped pan-India debut of Vijay Devarakonda, are surprising given that the actor's multiple city tours attracted large audiences - the momentum he built up then helped to bring in the audiences for the preview and Day 1.

The film which is actually doing well is Karthikeya 2. The dubbed Hindi version continued to bring in the money in the third week as well. Not that the collections are universally huge across the country but at least in select pockets it is finding footfalls and that’s what has allowed it to now reach close to the Rs 27 crore mark after three weeks. This one is a surprise hit; what's all the more remarkable is that the first day had brought in just Rs 7 lakh in ticket sales and ever since then it has been a constant high for the film.

This is an open week for the film with no competition whatsoever because nothing released yesterday and now Brahmastra arrives on the coming Friday (September 9). This sets the stage for Karthikeya 2 (Hindi) to keep collecting. The film is now set for Rs 30 crore in lifetime earnings from the Hindi version - it remains to be seen whether it can achieve this milestone inside four weeks, or if it will need part of the fifth week to make it. What matters though is that it is one of the few successes of the year and has ensured that there is something to cheer about for the exhibition and distribution circle.