The box office collections of John Abraham's "Madras Cafe" witnessed tremendous growth during the first weekend, thanks to terrific word of mouth.
"Madras Cafe" earned ₹5.17 crore on the first day of its release. The film's business escalated the following days as a result of positive feedback from film critics.
The John Abraham-starrer struck gold at the box office in its debut weekend, collectiong approximately ₹20.42 cr to ₹20.67 crore.
"#MadrasCafe collected approx Rs 20.42 cr to 20.67 cr nett in its opening weekend. Breakup: Fri 5.17 cr, Sat 7 cr, Sun 8.25 cr to 8.50 cr," film critic and trade analyst Taran Adarsh tweeted.
The film fared better than "Chennai Express", which raked in ₹10.48 crore nett in its third weekend (.23-25 August).
"Madras Cafe" is expected to have a smooth run during the weekdays and rake in decent figures. Interestingly, the film which targeted multiplexes of urban centres witnessed an upward trend in single screens as well, according to Bollywoodhungama.
The film is a political espionage thriller directed by Shoojit Sircar. It is set against the backdrop of Sri Lankan civil war and also depicts the assassination of former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.
The thriller flick has generated a lot of positive feedback from critics as well as the audience. Appreciating the director's efforts, Indian columnist and novelist Shobhaa De tweeted a message saying, "Watched Madras Cafe in a packed hall. Shoojit Le Carre Sircar deserves a shabaash.Yes, it's controversial.That's why it works."
"Madras Cafe" had a smooth release in north India but it is facing troubles in south India as it deals with the LTTE issue. The Tamil version of "Madras Cafe" has received an U/A certificate. However, theatres across Tamil Nadu have refused to screen the Hindi as well as the Tamil version citing threats.
The John starrer is the third flick to have faced troubles in its release in TN. Earlier, Kamal's "Vishwaroopam" and Vijay's Tamil film, "Thalaivaa" were mired in controversies which delayed their release. Now, "Madras Cafe" is facing a similar fate. It is not clear as to whether the film will make it to the theatres in Tamil Nadu.
