Despite mixed reports, more towards the negative side, the Hindi version of Saaho managed a fantastic first week. Yet, its heavy cost may not be recoverable from all the versions put together because the public reports aren’t exciting, and also because collections of the Telugu and other South versions are below the mark after the first weekend. The film, made in Telugu, Hindi and Tamil, and dubbed in Malayalam, has cost more than Rs. 350 crore. Of this, a maximum of around Rs. 150 crore has been/will be recovered from satellite, digital and audio rights, leaving over Rs. 200 crore to be recovered from theatrical sources. The film would need to net around Rs. 425 crore in all the languages put together, to break even. This seems rather difficult. It will, therefore, lose part of the investment. The Hindi version netted a phenomenal Rs. 25 crore on the first day. Collections dropped by Rs. 1 crore on Saturday. After collecting Rs. 24 crore on the second day, the film picked up on Sunday but the jump was not huge enough for the film to run to the winning post. It collected only Rs. 29 crore on Sunday. Had the film been a major hit, it should’ve netted over Rs. 40 crore on Sunday. After a weekend total of Rs. 78 crore, collections on the weekdays were as follows: Monday – Rs. 14.25 crore (due to Ganesh Chaturthi holiday; but the festival adversely affected collections in parts of Maharashtra mainly), Tuesday – Rs. 9.25 crore, Wednesday – Rs. 6.75 crore, Thursday – Rs. 6.75 crore. In this way, the film added Rs. 37 crore in the weekdays. Its total for the first week was a fantastic Rs. 115 crore. Strange as it may sound, collections of the Hindi version (rather than the Telugu version) in the second week will be a pointer to whether the film makes a huge loss or loses moderately.
The Angry Birds Movie 2 (dubbed) and the English original of the same name did not fare too well in the second week.
Mission Mangal netted Rs. 2.20 crore on the first day of the third weekend, Rs. 3.25 crore on the second day, and Rs. 3.64 crore on the third day. In this way, it collected Rs. 9.09 crore in the third weekend. Collections during the weekdays were as follows: Monday – Rs. 2.20 crore, Tuesday – Rs. 1.10 crore, Wednesday – Rs. 1 crore, Thursday – Rs. 1.20 crore. By adding Rs. 5.50 crore to its kitty in the weekdays, it took its total for the third week to Rs. 14.59 crore. Its grand total for 3 weeks was, therefore, Rs. 192.54 crore.
Batla House collected Rs. 0.60 crore on the first day of the third weekend, Rs. 1.10 crore on the second day, and Rs. 1.50 crore on the third day. Hence, its third weekend’s total was Rs. 3.20 crore. Collections during the weekdays: Monday – Rs. 0.85 crore, Tuesday – Rs. 0.43 crore, Wednesday – Rs. 0.40 crore, Thursday – Rs. 0.45 crore. It, therefore, netted Rs. 2.13 crore in the weekdays, taking the third week’s total to Rs. 5.33 crore. Grand total for 3 weeks: Rs. 85.68 crore.
