Sita Ramam has a sensational first weekend, set to become Dulquer’s second straight success in Telugu

Sita Ramam got everything right for it prior to its release - from the casting to music to promotions and creating adequate buzz. There was anxiety around director Hanu Raghavapudi’s track record and with two non-Telugu speaking actors like Dulquer Salmaan, Mrunal Thakur headlining it, but the terrific box office response in the first weekend shattered any such worries.

An important factor that’ll help the makers is its multilingual release. As soon as the Telugu version received glowing reviews everywhere, the word of mouth spread quickly. As a result, the Tamil and the Malayalam versions started performing better with every show over the weekend. The absence of mass appeal and a strong crowd-pulling factor didn’t prove a deterrent at all.

Of all the three days, Sunday was the biggest in terms of box office numbers, a clear indicator that the film is working with audiences. In the first weekend, Sita Ramam has garnered Rs 25 crore in the three versions across the globe. The film reported many housefulls in several areas on Saturday and Sunday and more screens were added. On Monday too, the film has started well.

Sita Ramam’s major collections have come from the Telugu states, in the range of Rs 10-11 crores. Other major contributors were from regions like Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka and US (nearly $6,00,000). The most interesting part is that the film is doing well even in B and C centres, where slow-paced period romances are conventionally not believed to work.

The film is expected to breakeven by this weekend and is all set to collect Rs 50 crore in its entire theatrical run. Vishal Chandrasekhar has scored the music for the film. PS Vinod and Shreyaas Krishnan are the cinematographers and Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao is the editor. Ashwini Dutt has bankrolled the film under Swapna Cinema and presented by Vyjayanthi Movies.