Box office collection: Vijay's 'Leo' earns big, 'Bhagavanth Kesari' surprises
What's the story
A slew of films—mostly regional—were released theatrically on October 19, Thursday, to encash upon the Dussehra holidays.
These included Thalapathy Vijay's long-awaited action drama Leo: Bloody Sweet, Nandamuri Balakrishna's Bhagavanth Kesari, and Shiva Rajkumar-Anupam Kher's Ghost, among a few others.
Which film emerged as the audience's first choice and raked in good numbers?
Let's take a look at the opening-day collections.
#1
Despite mixed reviews, Vijay's stardom pulled audiences once again
Due to Vijay's massive fanbase in the South Indian regions, Leo received a massive commercial response and opened at a mammoth Rs. 63cr domestically, per Sacnilk.
Its overseas Day 1 collection stands at Rs. 66cr and Leo has registered the highest opening in Tamil Nadu in 2023.
Notably, this figure comes without a full-fledged Hindi release, or else, the numbers would have been higher.
#2
'Ghost' simply grasped at straws on Thursday
Kannada film Ghost is fronted by Rajkumar with additional support by Kher, Prashant Narayanan, Satya Prakash, Jayaram, and, Archana Jois.
The heist action thriller, directed by MG Srinivas, mostly unfolds inside a prison and is Rajkumar's first full-fledged release of the year.
Sacnilk reported that despite positive-to-mixed reviews, Ghost could only mint Rs. 2cr on its first day, with an overall occupancy of 48.55%.
#3
'Bhagavanth Kesari' stood strong despite 'Leo' being theater-goers' first choice
Balakrishna aka Balayya's Bhagavanth Kesari also received great support and earned positive reviews from critics.
The audience backed it too; per Sacnilk, it earned a stupendous Rs. 20cr on Thursday.
It had an overall occupancy of 62.03%, with the maximum crowd turning up for the night shows (72.34%).
The Anil Ravipudi directorial also stars Sreeleela, Arjun Rampal (his debut Telugu film), and R Sarathkumar.
Upcoming October releases
Upcoming October releases: 'Ganapath,' 'Tejas,' '12th Fail'
Coming to upcoming releases, Ganapath: A Hero is Born and Yaariyan 2 will clash on Friday.
The release calendar is also crowded with Kangana Ranaut's Tejas, Vikrant Massey's 12th Fail, and Nimrat Kaur-Radhika Madan's Sajini Shinde Ka Viral Video (all on October 27).
Some relatively smaller films, such as Mandali and Gadkari will also make their way to the theaters on October 27.