KR Ravikumar's "Lingaa" starring Rajinikanth, Sonakshi Sinha and Anushka Shetty in the leads has concluded its first weekend with a fabulous collection at the Andhra Pradesh and Nizam (AP/N) box office and has also shattered all records of Rajini's old movies in the states.
Keeping in tune with viewers' expectations, "Lingaa" released in around 700 screens in both the states on 12 December. Considering the audiences' craze for the film, the distributors started its screening in many centres in the wee hours on Friday, and the movie ran to packed houses everywhere.
"Lingaa" had registered huge amount of advance booking for its opening day and many viewers were seen waiting in the queue to buy tickets at 4.00 am. The huge demand for the tickets also boosted the black market. Many theatres, which had sold out all the tickets for the first day in advance, displayed 'houseful boards' much before the morning show started.
The Rajinikanth-Sonakshi-Anushka starrer got fantastic opening with its occupancy ranging between 95% and 100% in both single screens and multiplexes on Friday. "Lingaa" collected approximately ₹5 crore at the AP/N box office on the first day and also smashed the opening day record of "Robo", which was the biggest opener for Rajini in these states.
"Lingaa" was expected to get the same kind of response on Saturday too. But the movie got mixed reviews from viewers and critics and word of mouth took a toll on its business. Having witnessed 10% drop, the movie collected approximately ₹4 crore at the AP/N box office on the second day.
"Lingaa" showed big growth in its business on Sunday. On the third day, the movie collected approximately ₹5 crore at the AP/N box office, taking its three-day total to ₹14 crore. Its first week collection is now equal to the first week total of "Robo, which had raked in ₹15.50 crore in seven days.
Produced by Rockline Venkatesh, "Lingaa" has been made on mega-budget of ₹100 crore. The theatrical rights of its Telugu version were sold for a record price of ₹30 crore. The film has been successful in fetching almost 50% of its cost in just three days.
