In one of the biggest big ticket clashes of the year, Kangana Ranaut and Nawazuddin Siddiqui's highly anticipated films were at loggerheads. While Manikarnika took us through the life and times of Rani Laxmi Bai and her heroism, Thackeray paid a tribute to the fearless legend that Balasahab Thackeray was.
Both the films courted humongous controversy before it could reach the theatres. But, now that they have reached the halls, one of them has emerged as a clear-cut winner. Kangana Rananut's 'Manikarnika', which was made on a massive budget, has been steadily making good box-office collection. On the other hand, Thackeray, which was not made at an opulent budget is finding it difficult to grasp a foothold amongst the audience. While the film has been doing good business in Maharashtra, the figures coming in from rest of the country are not impressive at all.
Manikarnika made Rs 8.75 crore on Friday, and the good word-of-mouth gave the film a bigger collection of Rs 18.10 crore on Saturday. On Sunday too, the film continued its strong run at the box office with Rs 15.70 crore followed by passing the Monday test with flying colours and garnering Rs 5.10 crore. On Tuesday too, the film managed to do a decent collection and crossed the Rs 50 crore mark at the box-office.
"#Manikarnika crosses ₹ 50 cr... Despite positive feedback, the biz is clearly divided: Some circuits holding well, some aren't... Weekend 2 crucial... Fri 8.75 cr, Sat 18.10 cr, Sun 15.70 cr, Mon 5.10 cr, Tue 4.75 cr. Total: ₹ 52.40 cr. India biz. #Hindi #Tamil #Telugu," Taran Adarsh tweeted.
Thackeray, however, has not had such a powerful box-office collection so far. The film managed to collect just Rs 2.50 crore on day 5.
The performance of both Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Kangana Ranaut was praised in their respective films, however, the grandeur of Kangana's film has had more viewers than Nawaz's.
