Saaho box office collection: Did makers of Prabhas' film manipulate and inflate numbers?

The makers of Prabhas' Saaho (Sahoo) revealed this morning that it has crossed Rs 350 crore gross mark at the worldwide box office in five days, but the buzz on social media is that they inflate the numbers.

UV Creations, which has bankrolled Saaho, revealed that the movie has become the highest-grossing Indian flick of 2019 with its five days total collection of Rs 350 crore gross in the worldwide market. The production house tweeted, "India's biggest blockbuster of the year #Saaho collects a whopping 350 Cr+ gross in 5 days worldwide!"

But some people, who are closely following its business, were amused by UV Creations' claims. Sumit Kadel, a trade expert, tweeted, "International collection of #Saaho is approx 8.2M = 57 cr gross. Hindi producer figure- ₹ 117 cr gross ( 5 days) Total- ₹ 174 cr . So according to producer figures Saaho has grossed ₹ 176 cr ( 150 cr nett) Just from AP/TL, Kerela, Karnataka/mysore & Tamil Nadu.I rest my case."

Sumit Kadel alleged that the makers of Saaho are misleading the filmgoers, by releasing fake numbers. He claimed that it has collected only Rs 310 crore gross in 5 days. He tweeted, "Tu put the record straight, the producer's figure (350 cr) of #Saaho worldwide collection is absolutely MISLEADING & FAKE. Film total worldwide gross in 5 days is roughly ₹ 310 cr."

Kaushik LM, a critic of south Indian films, tweeted the approximate breakup of its collection of Rs 350 crore gross. He wrote, "Rough breakup of #Saaho's mammoth 350* CR WW gross in its opening 5 days, 130 CR – North 110 CR – AP&TS 45 CR - KA,TN & KL 65 CR – Overseas Historical opening #Prabhas #SaahoStorm."

Sumit Kadel retweeted his post and asked Kaushik about the GST rate on film tickets. He tweeted, "₹ 130 cr from north? Sir please explain the GST rate you have calculated. Pls enlighten us about the nett figure of #Saaho in north India & how much GST % you have added in the nett collection."

The Kolkata-based film trade analyst said that the GST rate is 14-15 per cent as per which its gross business in north India would be Rs 117 crore, but not Rs 130 crore. Sumit Kadel wrote, "Producer OFFICIAL collection from north India is ₹ 103 cr. Standard GST rate applied is 14-15%, which takes the gross figure to ₹ 117 cr. I am really curious to know how ₹ 130 cr gross figure is calculated ."

Sumit Kadel alleged that the makers of Saaho have inflated its collection figures to fool the public. He tweeted, "When producers starts inflating collection means film has doomed. #Saaho is 1 example among many. Collection manipulation is a common phenomenon in India. They can fool masses, but trade & industry knows it well. Sad part is that even majority of the TA supports this malpractice."