Rangasthalam beats the Chennai records of Mahesh Babu, Pawan Kalyan films

Ram Charan's latest  Telugu film Rangasthalam has kick-started its business at the Chennai box office and has created a history by registering a record business for a Telugu film on the opening day in the capital of Tamil Nadu.

Rangasthalam has garnered over Rs 25 lakh on the first day at the box office and has beaten the previous records of Pawan Kalyan's Agnyaathavaasi, which had collected Rs 24 lakh on the opening day and Mahesh Babu's Spyder, which raked in Rs 18 lakh, on its opening day. The period drama has pushed Mahesh Babu's film to the third position.

SS Rajamouli's Telugu version of Baahubali 2 made a little over Rs 10 in Chennai, although the combined collections of Tamil and Telugu versions stand at Rs 92 lakh.

The trade experts are of the opinion that the ongoing Kollywood strike was one of the reasons that helped Rangasthalam to do well. No movie has been released in Tamil in the month of March. With Ram Charan being a familiar face among urban Chennai audience, people apparently watched his film in the theatres, industry trackers say.

The Chennai theatrical rights of Rangasthalam are valued at Rs 60 lakh. The movie is likely to do well in the next two days.

Rangasthalam has got a fantastic start at the worldwide box office. It is a period-revenge drama, written and directed by Sukumar. The critics have appreciated the solid performances of all the actors. The screenplay too has garnered rave reviews. Ram Charan's acting in the last 20 minutes of Rangasthalam has been lauded by critics and audience in unison. Samantha, as his love interest, is equally good in the role of Ramalaxmi.