A poster of SS Rajamouli's 'RRR'.
The much-awaited Indian film, RRR, has surpassed trade expectations and earned big at the ticket windows, both domestic, as well as outside India. Directed by SS Rajamouli of Bahubali fame, the Hindi version of the film alone made $14.1 million till Tuesday, March 29. The film released in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Hindi languages on March 25 and made a gross collection of $80.5 million (all languages) in five days of the release.
The Hindi version of the film managed a worldwide gross collection of more than $65.9 million. The movie also became India's biggest-ever opener with $29.4 million worldwide. Rajamouli broke his own record of biggest opening of an Indian film - Bahubali 2 The Conclusion that had made $28.6 million worldwide on its opening day in 2017. RRR made $65.9 million over the first weekend. Bahubali 2 had collected $0.3 billion in 10 days of the release.
Filmmaker Rajamouli thanks the audience for the overwhelming response and says, “I am extremely overwhelmed that RRR is receiving immense appreciation and is creating path-breaking records across the globe! I thank the audience for their fabulous response to the film. Here's to hoping that the film will continue to perform exceptionally well at the worldwide box office in the coming few weeks.”
Set in pre-independence India, RRR is a fictional take on the freedom fighters of India - Komaram Bheem and Alluri Seetharama Raju. The film traces the younger days of the freedom fighters and features Jr. NTR and Ram Charan in lead roles. The movie also stars Alia Bhatt, Ajay Devgn, Samuthirakani, Alison Doody, Olivia Morris, and Ray Stevenson.
The month of March has proved to be a profitable one for the exhibition and film industries in India. A small budget film, The Kashmir Files, that had a humble opening collection of $0.46 million on day one, saw collections jumping to $3.5 million by the end of the first weekend in domestic markets alone.
The Kashmir Files continues its strong hold at the ticket windows, despite the grand success of RRR. The Vivek Agnihotri directorial has earned $ 30.4 million since its March 11 release.
Producer and film business expert Girish Johar says theatrical business has gained from a general perception of safety, two years after the pandemic outbreak. “I had hoped for at least a 20% jump, and that is what we are witnessing. Be it a film like The Kashmir Files or RRR - both have received tremendous response from the audience. Many factors have come together for such a phenomenal response in cinema theatres.”
