Mahesh Babu's Spyder has failed to live up to the pre-release hype in Tamil Nadu. Although it has garnered fairly positive reviews from Tamil critics, the movie could not set the box office on fire in its extended 9-day first week.
The union of ace filmmaker AR Murugadoss and Telugu superstar Mahesh Babu had excited cine-goers. The Tamil audience were eagerly looking forward for the release which marked the debut of the Tollywood star in Tamil.
Mahesh Babu's dedication and decision to dub his own voice in Tamil came under appreciation and doubled the expectations from the film. Cashing in on the hype, the distributors decided to give a wide release across the state as Spyder was released in over 400 screens.
On the opening day, Spyder collected Rs 3 crore, which was considered to be a good number for the movie featuring a Telugu actor. Unfortunately, the Mahesh Babu-starrer could not draw the audience to theatres in big numbers in the following days as it ended its 5-day weekend at Rs 9 crore with distributors' share of Rs 3.8 crore, as per Andhra Box Office.
On Monday, the Gandhi Jayanthi holiday helped the movie to enjoy decent viewership, but the next few days were not good. Hence, Spyder is estimated to have grossed about Rs 12 crore in Tamil Nadu in its first week, say trade experts.
Lyca Productions acquired the Tamil Nadu rights for Rs 18 crore. With the multiplexes going on strike over state government's decision to levy Local Body Entertainment Tax (LBET) in addition to the 28% Goods and Services Tax (GST), the movie might have tough times to recover the investment in the state.
