Blow the bugles, feed the poor, dance in the streets and spread the cheer!
Lord Ram has returned from his exile and has, in fact, given Indian cinema one of its most lucrative moments. Having crossed the ₹423 crore mark (give or take a few crores, considering that too many vested interests are putting out exaggerated figures) across five languages - Hindi, Kannada, Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam - in six days, the Indian box office is set to hit the reset button. However, this will happen only once the real figures come into play. At the moment, collections are allegedly being exaggerated. There are also discussions about rivals raking up muck and sycophants defending the film. Only when the dust settles will we have the real picture. Or the real box-office numbers.
Diwali Brought A Bonanza
This year's Diwali release, Ramayana, directed by Nitish Tiwari, brought glory to the Indian box office. With its robust storytelling, fantastic performances, voice-overs (Anupam Kher as Jayatu) and VFX, the film found an avaricious audience ready to bite greedily into this religious pie.
Slow But Steady, The Game Played Out
While the first two days - Thursday, November 5, when it scored ₹43 crore (Hindi), and Friday, November 6 (Dhanteras), when it netted ₹33 crore (Hindi) - were marked by a strange quietude, the euphoria soon followed. With myriad target groups giving Ramayana: Part 1 a thumbs-up, the mythological movie marched to its own drumbeat. Numbers poured in, both domestically and internationally.
The Recovery Was Massive
The Hindi box office performance of the film was the best because Hindi covered more areas across India. However, the South, especially Kannada and Malayalam, also lent it support. Kannada, Yash's territory, outperformed the Telugu market because of Yash's humongous popularity. According to many, he has stolen the Ramayana show. His portrayal of Ravan has received more accolades than Ranbir's Ram.
In Tamil, Ramayana Faced Competition
In Tamil, the film faced stiff competition from homegrown hero Suriya. His latest action-comedy thriller, Jithu Madhavan's The Scene, centred around a police officer, is the National Award-winning actor's third consecutive ₹100-crore film this year. The first two were Karuppu and Vishwanath & Sons. According to trade portals, the worldwide collection of this Suriya film stands at around ₹174.40 crore in its first five days.
Internationally, Ramayana Found Its Share Of Eyeballs
Ramayana is reportedly said to have collected around ₹297 crore from overseas markets, including the USA, UK, Europe, Australia, Nepal, Singapore, Malaysia and the Middle East, to name a few.
All previous releases - Prahaar, Nayyi Navelli, Udta Teer and a dozen others - remained buried in the debris. Frankly, when you are discussing the Gods, where is the time for the ludicrous?
