#Saaho #Prabhas : Live Updates
Trade: Saaho Exceeds Expectations, Sets A New Bar
The tentpole action movie Saaho was expected to take the box office by storm and it has indeed lived up to the hype on its day 1.
The film has been receiving scathing reviews for its content, but the superstardom of Prabhas and the 'must-watch' vibe it has created before the release has helped it to post record numbers on its first day.
Saaho has recorded the all-time second-highest opening day numbers for an Indian movie. Only Baahubali 2 has better numbers than Saaho now.
It means the film has set a new bar for Non-Baahubali movies too.
The film has collected close to Rs. 75 crore share worldwide on its day 1 and will continue to rake in big numbers until Monday.
Director Sujeeth has made a lousy film with copied themes and concepts from various Hollywood films.
He has wasted a golden opportunity and the film now entirely relies upon Prabhas's stardom to go forward.
Meanwhile, Evaru has surpassed lifetime collections of Gudachari and has become the highest-grossing movie in Adivi Sesh's career. But Goodachari will still remain the biggest hit in terms of return on investment.
Saaho Records An Excellent First Day in Bollywood
Saaho (Hindi) had an excellent first day with collections in the 24 crore nett range and despite that the film will start being screened tomorrow at many places especially in North due to the late arrival of prints.
The collections in the North were less because of this especially the Delhi NCR area.
Taking into account the limited business in the South and the release issues this is a 30 crore nett opening in real value and on a non holiday.
The opening day is the third best of the year in Hindi markets and it is not even a Hindi film and for a dubbed film from the South it is the second best after Bahubali - The Conclusion.
The reports of the film may not be encouraging but for a dubbed South film to record these opening numbers is pretty insane.
There is Bahubali - The Conclusion but that is an exception and generally, South dubbed does not have a big market with so many going unnoticed in the past.
The film has taken the second-biggest opening day after Bahubali - The Conclusion which is the only film to cross the 100 crore nett mark and there is a chance for Saaho to do this but Nizam / Andhra and Karnataka will have to go to or at least very close to record levels.
Shocking and Sensational! Saaho Set To Beat Baahubali 2!!
Saaho is creating ripples in the trade with its pre-release business stats. The high budget action extravaganza is set to beat Baahubali 2 pre-business record in Telugu states.
The film has fetched a whopping Rs. 25 crores for Ceded distribution rights with individual distributors bidding from different districts. This is sensational by any yardstick.
Saaho's distribution rights of Godavari districts were bagged for Rs. 19 crore, which brings the ratio of Coastal Andhra to Rs. 60 Cr.
In Nizam, UV Creations is releasing the film on its own and the rights are valued at Rs. 40 crore that is equal to Baahubali 2.
On the whole, Saaho is set to fetch Rs. 125 crore from Telugu states alone, which sets a new record overtaking Baahubali 2 pre-business numbers (122 Cr).
Kadapa district rights were fetched by Sobhan for Rs. 5 Cr and AU Cinemas Uday bought Anantapur district distribution rights for Rs. 5.5 Cr. Lakshmikanth Reddy bagged Bellary rights for Rs. 1.5 Cr. There is a mad craze from third parties that are betting big on Saaho.
The film has fetched Rs. 2 Cr Fixed Hires from Anantapur district alone.
Saaho Has A Strong Saturday In Bollywood
Saaho (Hindi) has had a strong Saturday with collections pretty much similar to the first day.
The film will collect around the 23 crore nett mark which is a strong second day for an action film which opened very well especially in mass.
The film has compensated for the first day a little as many places did not screen the film due to an issue of the prints not coming on time so the first day should have actually been more than what it did.
The real value to drop is a little more than the collections show but for an action film that is especially one from the Telugu industry.
The day collections of the film will be a strong 47.50 crore nett for Hindi with a limited South market and even if the film is unable to grow on Sunday it will be a 70 crore nett weekend which is an excellent weekend.
There is a restricted holiday for Ganesh Chaturthi on Monday which will help so despite the negativity the film would have put a big total in the first four days.
There has been a drop in the South versions especially mass regions but Hyderabad and Bangalore drop you would take considering the huge first-day numbers and the second day all India number can be in the 50-55 crore nett region which is an extraordinary 140 crore nett approx in two days.
Source: BoxOfficeIndia
No One Can Match Prabhas's Stardom!
This is not a statement to bring up fan wars but it is a fact. There was a time from 89-94 when other heroes looked completely out of the league in which Rajnikanth, Kamal Haasan and Megastar Chiranjeevi were part off.
Balakrishna couldn't extend his mass image other than in Telugu. Shiva gave Nagarjuna Hindi market and he did try to improve on Tamil recognition he achieved with the film. But his bad script choices after Shiva and again after Annamayya affected his market.
Venkatesh, Mohan Lal, Mammotty tried to get National Recognition but their attempts did not succeed except for one or two. Mohan Lal with Kalapani could turn heads towards him but his name did not go beyond South Indian Cinema until Company came along.
Kamal Haasan, Rajnikanth enjoyed a rare all language appeal but Rajni with Basha stuck to South Indian cinema more from 1990's and his market grew with Tamil movies only. In the North, his name was known but his market vanished.
Kamal Haasan lost his market after Indian due to Abhay, Hey Ram and until Dasavatharam came along he lost it due to the gap he took. After the movie, his National appeal wore off.
Megastar Chiranjeevi increased his market in Karnataka, went to Bollywood with Aaj Ka Goonda Raj and got a market in Tamil with dubbed films but flops in Telugu and cancellation of some big films resulted in him rediscovering himself as Telugu hero. He is trying again to go Pan-India with Sye Raa, which is his dream as an actor.
Prabhas with Baahubali is able to gain a huge market in Hindi belts that none of the actors like Rajnikanth, Kamal Haasan could achieve. Kamal had great appeal in Mumbai, Delhi, West Bengal circuits but not in deep mass belts as Baahubali could penetrate into all those markets.
As an action hero, Prabhas is accepted by many of Indian film lovers even better than Khans for sure. Saaho's opening day collections and second-day hold proves that.
He used to be far behind in number game but Baahubali just transformed everything for him. All he needs is a better script every time he attempts a film, from now on. He has got an audience like no one else and it is in his hands to keep them intact.
Box Office: Saaho Debuts In Top 2 Position!
Saaho showed how big Prabhas popularity is as a star and his films need not be publicised on a large scale like Saaho, all the time but he just proved that he can bring audiences to the theatres.
Saaho collected close to Rs. 38 crores share, approximately from Nizam and Andhra Pradesh areas which are second-highest for any Telugu film.
Other three include Aravinda Sametha at Rs. 26.75 crores, Agnyathavaasi at Rs. 26.35 crores and Vinaya Vidheya Rama at Rs. 26.05 crores, to complete Top 5.
Even though Mahesh Babu scored a massive first day with Maharshi, Rs.24 crores share, he couldn't beat the records of the other three films, excluding Baahubali-2.
Before Sarileru Nekevvaru, there is Sye Raa with Megastar Chiranjeevi and an ensemble cast of stars coming on a holiday like 2nd October on the cusp of Dasara. The movie could aim for Rs. 43.05 crores share to beat Baahubali-2 Day 1, in Telugu states for sure.
But Saaho is expected to loose more for distributors even with Rs. 36 crores start and Ceeded is already reported to have slowed down. We have to wait and see, how will the Top 5 change by next Prabhas's movie release.
Saaho 70 Crore-Plus Weekend: Is That Enough?
Bollywood Critics and Trade Analysts who offered thumbs down to 'Saaho' were in a state of shock looking at the Box Office numbers. Noted Trade Analyst Taran Adarsh described the action thriller 'Unbearable'. Today, He himself had predicted the Prabhas-starrer will have a Rs 70 crore-plus Weekend (Hindi version alone).
Hindi Version of 'Saaho' raked in Rs 24.40 crore on Friday and Rs 25.20 crore on Saturday. Sunday Nett BOC could be above Rs 27 crore.
Taran Adarsh attributes the terrific opening to the Pan-India Popularity of Prabhas. How long will the collections remain strong is going to be the key here..! The real test for 'Saaho' begins from Tuesday with Vinayaka Chaturthi being celebrated on Monday.
Looking at the Openings, One gets the feeling Prabhas would have gone to the next level had if 'Saaho' have the right content. A golden opportunity to establish Prabhas as the Biggest Superstar of India was ruined by Sujeeth. This Young Filmmaker failed to capitalize on the craze for Rebel Star.
