Manikarnika and Thackeray, which have locked horns with each other, are going headstrong and raking in moolah at the Indian box office. But it is Kangana Ranaut's historical biopic on warrior queen Rani Lakshmi Bai of Jhansi that has emerged victorious leaving Nawazuddin Siddiqui's biopic based on the life of Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray far behind in the box office race in its opening weekend.
On Friday, Manikarnika had taken a decent start at the box office by minting Rs 8.75 crore. The movie business got mutliplied on Saturday and earned a whopping Rs 18.10 crore taking the two days total collection to Rs 26.85 crore. On Sunday too, Kangana's film witnessed a similar footfalls as that of Saturday and collected Rs 15.70 on day 3 taking its total weekend collection to Rs 42.55 crore.
"#Manikarnika has an excellent weekend... Crosses ₹ 40 cr mark after a sluggish start [Day 1]... Kangana's biggest opener... Delhi, NCR, UP, Punjab and Rajasthan have performed best... Fri 8.75 cr, Sat 18.10 cr, Sun 15.70 cr. Total: ₹ 42.55 cr. India biz. #Hindi #Tamil #Telugu," Taran Adarsh tweeted.
Not falling short in terms of performance at the box office is the Thackeray biopic which has now started scoring well in other states as well other than Maharashtra. On Friday, the movie collected Rs 6 crore becoming the highest opening grosser for Nawazuddin. On Saturday, it showed immense growth in its collection and went on to earn Rs 10 crore. And on Sunday too, the movie showed an upward trend and collected Rs 6.90 crore ending its opening weekend on a good note by collecting Rs 22.90 crore.
"#Thackeray has a healthy weekend... #Marathi version is dominating with superb biz, while #Hindi version is best in #Maharashtra... Fri 6 cr, Sat 10 cr, Sun 6.90 cr. Total: ₹ 22.90 cr. India biz. #Hindi #Marathi," Taran Adarsh tweeted.
The Republic Day holiday has surely benefited both Manikarnika and Thackeray to prove their mettle at the box office and the strong word of mouth around both the movies is proving to be fruitful.
It remains to be seen if the two big films will be able to sustain the momentum and pass the crucial Monday test.
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