Saif Ali Khan starrer Hindi film "Happy Ending" opened to a lukewarm response at the box office. The film clashed with Kannada movie 'Ambareesha' in Bengaluru and lost out to the local movie on the first day at collection centres.
"Happy Ending" was released in about 2,000+ screens worldwide. In Bengaluru, the Bollywood movie had a massive 130+ shows on the first and second day. But the movie performed below average as much attention was taken by 'Ambareesha', which is the biggest Kannada release of this month.
A theatre owner, who has observed the response for both the film, says, "Naturally, a big Kannada movie always performs better than an average Hindi movie in Bangalore. But in case of "Happy Ending" and "Ambareesha", the Sandalwood movie is a clear winner because it did better despite having lesser number of shows than the Hindi movie in its own backyard."
"Happy Ending" had about 20% occupancy in Bengaluru on the first day, whereas "Ambareesha" had over 80% occupancy.
"Ambareesha" opened to 80 shows in Bengaluru. Even at the box office, the Kannada movie has outperformed "Happy Ending". While the Kannada movie made more than ₹1.25 crore in this region alone, Saif's film did not mint even half of what Darshan's film earned in Bengaluru.
Darshan's Kannada movie made more than ₹3 crore on the release day, as per the trade circles in Karnataka. On the other end, the early reports suggest that "Happy Ending" has earned just over ₹4 crore in India, which is far less by Bollywood standards for a star movie.
However, we should note that the Hindi movie garnered mixed reviews and it is expected to perform better on Saturday and Sunday. But for "Ambareesha", the future seems bleak following the negative audience feedback.
