Ram Gopal Varma's latest Bollywood venture "Veerappan" made better collection than "Phobia" and "Waiting" at the Indian box office in the first weekend, but failed to overtake "The Angry Birds Movie" in the domestic market.
"Veerappan" is one of the much-awaited Bollywood movies of 2016. Featuring Sandeep Bharadwaj in the titular role, it released along with Hindi movies "Phobia" and "Waiting" on May 27. Considering its hype, promotion and RGV's fame, trade expert had predicted it would top the domestic business chart, beating two other new releases.
As predicted, the RGV-directed film opened to good response on Friday and witnessed decent growth on Saturday and Sunday. "Veerappan" has collected Rs. 5.95 crore nett at the Indian box office in its first weekend. Taran Adarsh tweeted: "#Veerappan Fri 1.79 cr, Sat 1.96 cr, Sun 2.20 cr. Total: ₹ 5.95 cr nett. India biz. [sic]"
RGV's "Department," released in 2012, had collected Rs. 8.25 crore nett at the Indian box office in its opening weekend. Taran Adarsh had tweeted on May 21, 2012: "#Department had a slow start on Fri, went downhill on Sat and showed no major escalation on Sun. Collected approx Rs 8.25 cr nett [est]. [sic]"
His next film "Bhoot Returns," which was also released the same year, collected Rs. 3.75 crore nett at the domestic box office in its opening weekend. It had failed to beat the record of "Department." Taran Adarsh had tweeted on Oct. 15, 2012: "#BhootReturns is extremely poor too. Collected approx Rs 3.5 to Rs 3.75 cr nett in its opening weekend. [sic]"
His 2013 release "Satya 2" was expected to shatter these records and bring back the fallen glory of RGV in B-Town. But the movie turned out to be a huge disaster at the ticket counters. His latest venture "Veerappan" smashed the opening-weekend record of "Bhoot Returns," but failed to beat the record of "Department."
"Veerappan" was expected to top the domestic business in its first weekend. But it has been pushed down to the second place by "The Angry Birds Movie," which has collected Rs. 9.04 crore nett at the Indian box office in three days. Taran Adarsh tweeted: "#TheAngryBirdsMovie dominated the marketplace, surpassing Hindi films... Fri 2.20 cr, Sat 3.22 cr, Sun 3.62 cr. Total: ₹ 9.04 cr nett. [sic]"
