Few would have dared publicly predict it, but Bollywood icon Salman Khan’s 5-year streak in winning the Eid holiday box office title is at risk this weekend. His poorly-reviewed Hindi-language war drama Tubelight got walloped on Friday by Tollywood star Allu Arjun’s Duvvada Jagannadham (commonly referred to as “DJ”), and will be challenged by the South Indian contender for the rest of the 5-day holiday weekend.
Tubelight went flat on Saturday, earing roughly as much as it did on Friday, about 25 crore rupees ($3.9 million) in gross revenues (21 nett) each day, for a 2-day gross of roughly 50 crore ($7.8 million). DJ out-earned the Khan vehicle on Friday, taking in 24 crore in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana alone on its way to a 33 crore worldwide opening day.
Amazingly, DJ has managed to threaten Tubelight’s box office supremacy despite holding less than one-third the number of screens, with DJ playing at 1,350 venues across India, and Tubelight at nearly 4,400.
DJ also handily beat Tubelight at the North American box office, debuting at number 11 on Friday with over $500,000 (3.4 crore) versus a bit less than half that amount for Tubelight.
Most of DJ's screens are concentrated in the south, where the Chennai-born Arjun is a popular star. Tubelight stumbled in that region, taking most of its revenue in the north. The new Tollywood film's debut represents the best-ever for the 34-year-old Chennai born Arjun, who has been active in the cinema since he was a small child. Its 33 crore opening day easily exceeded Arjun's previous record of 20 crore on the opening day for Sarainodu.
Duvvada Jagannadham tells the story of a police officer, who disguises himself as a Brahmin cook to investigate a case. It was directed by Harish Shankar (Gabbar Singh) and produced by Dil Raju for Sri Venkateswara Creations. The prolific songwriter Devi Sri Prasad (Veeram, Puli) composed the film’s score, and Pooja Hegde co-stars with Arjun.
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