Maharshi 18-day box office collection: Mahesh film fares better than Sita, ABCD in weekend 3

Mahesh Babu's Maharshi has continued its dream run at the Andhra Pradesh and Telangana (AP/TS) box office and made better collection than new release Sita and ABCD in its third weekend.

Many thought that the rocking collections of Maharshi would be halted by Allu Sirish's ABCD in its second week. The movie lost some screens for the new film, but managed to do good business in the existing number of cinema halls. It faced another obstacle in the face of Sita starring Bellamkonda Sai Srinivas and Kajal Aggarwal, but managed to keep the cash registers ringing at the AP/TS box office.

Maharshi is estimated to have collected Rs 4.61 crore gross at the AP/TS box office in its third weekend and its 18-day total has reached Rs 111.03 crore gross in the Telugu states. The movie has added Rs 3.17 crore to its distributors' total earnings Rs 76.33 crore. The distributors shelled out Rs 76 crore on its theatrical rights for the Telugu states and it has recovered 100 per cent of their investments in 18 days.

Having good hype, the Teja-directed movie was released in around 600 cinema halls across the Telugu states on Friday and opened to average response. A mixed word of mouth took a toll on its collection on the following days. Sita has collected Rs 5 crore gross at the AP/TS box office in the first weekend. In three days, it has earned Rs 3.41 crore to its distributors, who have Rs 11.70 crore on its rights.

On the other hand, the Allu Sirish starrer, which was released on May 17, opened to average response and made poor collections in the first week. Its business has hit the rock bottom in second weekend. ABCD has collected Rs 4.75 crore gross at the AP/TS box office in 10 days. It has earned Rs 3 crore for its distributors, who have invested nearly Rs 6 crore on its theatrical rights for the Telugu states.