With its potential competitor, director Shankar’s Kamal Haasan-starrer “Indian 2,” struggling at the box office, the path is clear for director Nag Ashwin’s “Kalki 2898 AD,” starring Prabhas and Deepika Padukone, to continue its successful run. Dominating the domestic market, “Kalki” is also performing exceptionally well in North America, surpassing director Siddharth Anand’s Shah Rukh Khan-starrer “Pathaan” to become the second-highest-grossing Indian film there.
On its third Tuesday, “Kalki” outperformed the previous day with an India nett collection of Rs 5.1 crore, according to early estimates by industry tracker Sacnilk. On the same day, “Indian 2” earned just Rs 3 crore. The Hindi version of “Kalki” recorded Rs 3.1 crore on Tuesday, while the original Telugu version earned Rs 1.4 crore. The Malayalam, Tamil, and Kannada versions brought in Rs 30 lakh, Rs 25 lakh, and Rs 5 lakh, respectively. The epic sci-fi film’s total domestic nett collection now stands at Rs 589.1 crore.
On Tuesday, “Kalki’s” 2D version had an overall occupancy rate of 21.66 per cent in the Telugu market. The morning shows started with a 14.12 per cent occupancy, which increased to 19.63 per cent in the afternoon, 23.66 per cent in the evening, and peaked at 29.24 per cent at night. Its 3D version recorded an overall occupancy rate of 20.85 per cent.
Having crossed the Rs 1,000 crore global gross mark on Saturday, “Kalki” is likely to surpass the Rs 1,050 crore milestone by the end of this week if it maintains the same momentum. Two days ago, “Kalki” surpassed Shah Rukh Khan’s “Pathaan” to become the second-highest-grossing Indian film in North America, earning over $17.5 million. “Pathaan” collected $17.45 million during its theatrical run. The only movie ahead of “Kalki” now is director SS Rajamouli’s “Baahubali 2: The Conclusion” ($20.77 million). Notably, the top two films feature the same male lead — Prabhas — and are originally Telugu movies.
Besides Prabhas and Deepika Padukone, “Kalki” also stars Amitabh Bachchan and Kamal Haasan in key roles. In her review of the movie, The Indian Express’ Shubhra Gupta wrote, “Kalki may have Prabhas as the headliner, but it is Amitabh Bachchan all the way — his Ashwatthama is suitably gravelly and towers over the film. Kamal Haasan comes on sparingly but does leave an impact.” A sequel to the film is in development.