PremiumToby weekend box office: Raj B Shetty film remains steady; mixed reviews effect?
Toby, led by Raj B Shetty, also stars Chaithra J Achar, Samyukta Hornad, Gopalkrishna Deshpande, among others. The film did not report improvement over day 1 collections in the weekend
Last Updated: 02.35 PM, Aug 28, 2023
In the last couple of months, Kannada actor-filmmaker Raj B Shetty was seen pretty much everywhere, promoting his film, Toby . Released in theatres on August 25, the film’s advance bookings opened only two days prior and was affected when several multiplexes suspended bookings for the morning shows as they had not received the content. As of August 24 morning, the satellite uplink of the final product was still in process, with the linking to theatres delayed further. Also, August 25 being a festival (Varamahalakshmi habba), the morning and noon shows had relatively low occupancy, which picked up by the early afternoon and late evening.
Holding steady
Given the uptick in bookings by the end of day 1, it was expected that the film would do well over the weekend also. However, trade sites like sacnilk report that Toby held steady in the range of Rs 1.2 crore to Rs 1.3 crore on each of the three days it has been in theatres. Day four predictions put the collections at an estimated Rs 60 lakh. The film is said to have sold over 1 lakh tickets so far. The film has been registering in the vicinity of 40% occupancy. The film has been distributed by KVN Productions without hiked ticket rates and has also seen a marginal decline in the number of shows allotted to it.
Mixed review impact?
This, say netizens, is because Toby opened in theatres with mixed reviews. While a large section has liked the movie and the performances of Raj B Shetty and Chaithra J Achar, in particular, there have been quite a few who didn’t take a fancy to the film. The latter segment pointed out that Raj went on a promotional overdrive and marketed it as a mass film with far more whistle-worthy moments than his earlier Garuda Gamana Vrishabha Vahana. The film, we hear, was made at a budget of around Rs 10 crore, a figure that has not been corroborated by the team, and the post-theatrical satellite and digital rights are yet to be sold, so, Toby has a long way still to recover costs.