"Policeodu" aka "Police" has made decent collections at the Andhra Pradesh and Telangana (AP/T) box office in its first weekend. However, it has failed to break the record of Vijay's last release, "Puli."
The Telugu movie "Police," which was initially titled "Policeodu", is the dubbed version of Vijay's much-awaited Tamil movie "Theri." Distributor Dil Raju acquired its theatrical rights for the two Telugu states for a whopping amount, which rumours peg at Rs. 5 crore. In a bid to cash in on the popularity of Vijay and Samantha, he released the film in a large number of cinema halls across both the states on April 15.
"Police," which had good advance booking, opened to decent response everywhere in these states. But the film received mixed response from viewers and critics, and the word-of-mouth took a toll on its business on the following days. Its first weekend collection was good, but not up to the mark.
"Police" collected Rs. 3.20 crore gross at the AP/T box office in the first weekend, earning Rs. 2.75 crore for its distributor, according to Andhra Box Office (ABO). This is more than half the amount Dil Raju is rumoured to have shelled out for the film's theatrical rights.
Considering its hype, "Police" was expected to smash the opening-weekend record of Vijay's last outing, "Puli," but it has failed to do so. "Puli" collected Rs. 4.65 crore at the AP/T box office in its opening weekend, earning Rs. 4.05 crore for its distributors, according to ABO.
"Police" is an action film, about a police office who faces off with a local gang when his daughter's life is endangered by them. Written and directed by Atlee, the film features Vijay, Samantha and Amy Jackson in the lead. GV Prakash Kumar has composed the music for the movie, while George C Williams handled its cinematography.
[1 lakh = 100,000 | 1 crore = 10 million | 100 crore = 1 billion]
