Sree Vishnu's Telugu film Mental Madhilo has topped the weekend collection chart for Indian movies at the US box office, beating Tollywood film Balakrishnudu and Hindi flick Tumhari Sulu.
The Telugu film industry released small-budget movies this weekend and Mental Madhilo had bigger hype than the other movies. The film was released in over 70 screens across North America and was expected to get a bigger opening than the others at the US box office.
The Raj Kandukuri-produced romantic film opened to decent response in the premiere shows in the country on Thursday. A strong word of mouth helped Mental Madhilo on strength to strength over the weekend.
Mental Madhilo has collected $134,036 (Rs 86.43 lakh) at the US box office in the first weekend. It is yet another small-budget Telugu film that has become a big money-spinner in the US after Arjun Reddy and PSV Garuda Vega.
Taran Adarsh tweeted its day-wise breakup: "Telugu film #MentalMadhilo debuts at No 26 at USA BO... Thu previews $ 25,277 Fri $ 32,853 Sat $ 48,207 Sun $ 27,699 Total: $ 134,036 [₹ 86.43 lakhs] @Rentrak [sic]"
Nara Rohit's latest film debuted to an average response and could not show big growth in the following days.
Balakrishnudu collected $ 23,836 (Rs 15.39 lakh) from 42 screens at the US box office in the first weekend. It landed in the third place in the US business chart for Indian films this weekend.
On the other hand, Vidya Balan's one-week-old Tumhari Sulu continued to keep the cash registers ringing in the country in its second week.
It collected $81,432 from 37 screens at the US box office in its second weekend, taking its 10-day total to $346,105 (Rs 2.24 crore). It graced the second rank in the US business chart for Indian films this weekend.
