Telugu film "Tripura" starring Colors Swathi and Naveen Chandra in the lead has done decent business at the US box office in the first weekend, better than that of "Raju Gari Gadhi".
"Tripura" is a small-budget horror comedy, and its promos had created lot of curiosity among film-goers. The film released in a limited number of halls in North America on 6 November. It had paid premiere shows in a few centres on 29 October, and garnered good response.
The word-of-mouth publicity boosted its business on the opening day and helped it show decent growth subsequently. "Tripura" has collected $8,727 (Rs 5.80 lakh) from 12 screens at the US box office in the first weekend. Its per-screen average stands at $727, said to be good when compared to other small-budget Telugu movies.
Like "Tripura", "Raju Gari Gadhi" is also a horror-comedy made on shoe-string budget, starring Ashwin Babu, Dhanraj and Dhanya Balakrishna. Directed by Omkar, the film released in 16 cinema halls across North America on 30 October and received very good response, collecting $13,936 at the US box office in the first week.
Its screen count reduced to nine in the second week, "Raju Gari Gadhi" has witnessed a 50% drop in business. It has collected $4,066 at the US box office in the second weekend. Its 10-day US total collection has reached $18,002 (Rs 11.96 lakh), with a per-screen average of $451.
However, Akhil Akkineni's debut movie "Akhil" is scheduled to release in more than 100 cinema halls in the country on 11 November. It will definitely snatch almost all cinema halls from "Tripura" and "Raju Gari Gadhi", taking a toll on their business.
