There’s an idiom that goes, “A single strike of the blacksmith is worth a hundred of a goldsmith’s.” Seventy-five-year-old Rajinikanth proved once again that he’s made of a different mettle. He is worth much more than any of the newer Indian stars. His mass entertainer, Jailer 2, arrived on October 15, saw and conquered in the four days that followed. The all-India tally across five languages—Tamil, Telugu, Hindi, Kannada and Malayalam—stands at ₹199.90 crore.
New Hindi releases floundered
RajKummar Rao’s courtroom drama Prahaar, which released on October 16, managed a meagre ₹8.95 crore. And Yami Gautam Dhar’s horror-comedy—or should we call it a horrific dramedy?—Nayyi Navelli fared marginally better than Prahaar, with a total of ₹11.65 crore.
Vidyut can’t walk or talk English
Vidyut Jammwal held his breath for 15 minutes at a promotional event for his Hollywood debut, Street Fighter. However, the audience didn’t hold its breath when it came to watching his Hollywood debut. The film barely collected ₹3.74 crore in English. Pray, Part 2 is still to come.
Drishyam and Doraemon dared
Drishyam: The Conclusion continued its quiet march, notching up around ₹341.90 crore. Here, we must add that all the Hindi films got plain lucky. Due to unacceptable terms from the makers of Jailer 2, a prominent cinema chain didn’t release the Hindi version of the Rajini film. Otherwise, given the mass hysteria the film has been generating in Tamil and Telugu worldwide, Bollywood would be running for cover.
The Japanese anime, Doraemon: New Nobita and Castle of the Undersea Devil, continued its quiet domination over even the latest Hindi releases. This anime film has collected ₹24 crore at a time when star vehicles are struggling to get patronage. Vvaan will most likely breathe its last soon. The film’s current total is ₹60.38 crore. As destiny willed, Ektaa Kapoor and Sidharth Malhotra got lucky because Bihar and UP understood their sentiments, though in many parts of India, this film was lost in translation.
