Vishwaroop 2, the Hindi version of Kamal Haasan's latest spy-thriller, has failed to make a mark in the Hindi belt. The movie, which was released in theatres on August 10 after hitting several roadblocks and overcoming financial hurdles, got derailed at the box office because of its confusing storytelling and unpleasant screenplay.
While some reports suggested that the Vishwaroop 2 managed to earn a mere Rs 90 lakhs on the opening-day, trade analyst Girish Johar said that the movie has earned around Rs 1.5 crores over the weekend.
Speaking about the average business of the Kamal Haasan starrer, Johar told Pinkvilla, "What I believe is Kamal Haasan is sure shot a big icon in Indian Cinema but I think the film had similar kind of fate in the first part as well. The audience in the second time around were also not that keen because last time also the film did quite an ordinary business in Hindi version. So probably, this kind of storytelling he is trying to bring, Hindi audiences are not that much inclined to. That's one of the reasons. The reviews for the film are also quite mixed."
Because of the film's poor performance, Reliance Entertainment, who turned distributor for the spy-thriller, will reportedly lose a minimum of Rs 25-30 crores. According to a report in Bollywood Hungama, the company bought the film off Kamal Haasan as a premium product after the actor personally requested them to help with the financially troubled project.
"Reliance took on the project on faith. They were not allowed to see a single frame. Nor were they invited to make suggestions. It was presumed that Vishwaroop 2 would live up to the reputation of the first part released in 2013. However, the sequel turned out to be cut-and-paste follow-up with some footage repeated from the first part," a source commented.
A trade analyst explained why Vishwaroop 2 turned out to be a big-time disaster and why the audience decided to give it a miss in theatres.
"Vishwaroopam in 2013 was no great shakes at the box office. But all the controversy helped generate some curiosity. This time there is nothing to bring audiences into theatres to see Vishwaroop 2. The collections are extremely pitiable," the trade analyst said.
