By Hindustan Times
The Akshay Kumar-Sonakshi Sinha-starrer Rowdy Rathore (RR) may make its place within the Rs. 100 crore club within the coming weekends, in step with trade expert Komal Nahta. He says, “Single-screen cinemas are going berserk over RR. It’s a straight blockbuster.”
Trade analyst Taran Adarsh adds, “RR is Akshay’s Dabangg. I call it a wow-dy weekend for Rathore. Akshay lived the role and Prabhudheva knows his audience well. With Rs. 15.1 cr (Friday), Rs. 14.7 cr (Saturday) and Rs. 18.5 cr (Sunday), the film has netted Rs. 48.5 cr this weekend.” Two-tier cities like Kanpur, Nagpur, Indore, Jaipur, Udaipur and Lucknow recorded a set with a standard of 85 per cent in single-screens.
Adarsh rubbishes the film’s negative reviews, saying, “People want entertainment and this film offers it. They rubbished Sholay (1975) and called Hum Aap Ke Hai Kaun...!(1994). What matters is how much cash the film is making.”
RR was released in 3,000 screens in India and overseas. Made at the cheap of Rs. 45 cr, the film had recovered its money when its satellite, music and residential video rights were sold for Rs. 35 cr, Rs. 7 cr and Rs. 3 cr respectively. And with overseas collections of Rs. 11 cr over the weekend in addition, that is definitely the most important solo release of his career.
Celebrating Rowdy’s success, Siddharth Roy Kapur, MD, Studios, Disney UTV, says, “We had a six month promotion strategy for the film, but what really hit it was the connect Prabhudheva, his team and the film have made with the audience.”
