Vikrant Rona Day 2 box office dips to under 10-crore across India; weekend becomes crucial for Kiccha Sudeep’s film

After a good start to its box office campaign, with a Rs 35-crore Day 1 world-wide gross collection report, the fortunes of Kiccha Sudeep’s Vikrant Rona slipped majorly on Day 2, Friday, the 29th of July to less than 10-crore gross across the country. This was attributed largely to the fact that it had competition in all its key markets from new releases, like John Abraham and Arjun Kapoor’s Ek Villain Returns in Hindi, Ravi Teja’s Ramarao on Duty in Telugu and Suresh Gopi’s Paapan in Malayalam. One of the Tamil releases of the week, Saravanan Arul’s The Legend was being lapped up by a section of the audience, as it has been dubbed as a spoof of Rajinikanth’s Sivaji. People are, apparently, watching it for its cringe-worthy comedy.

In Hindi, Ek Villain Returns has not got favourable reviews, while the feedback to Sudeep’s 3D fantasy action drama has been mixed. While some loved the spectacle that director Anup Bhandari put together, others have panned it for being unimaginative. In Telugu too, Ramarao on Duty hasn’t got good reviews, while Suresh Gopi’s Pappan has been dubbed as a good release this week. Back home in Karnataka, Vikrant Rona has got mixed reviews, with viewers and critics calling out the many similarities between the thriller and Anup’s earlier Rangitaranga. It had also got an unopposed two-week reign at the box office in Karnataka, with Jaggesh’s Raghavendra Stores vacating the August 5 slot.

The Kiccha Sudeep film, which was made at a reported Rs 95 crore will have a lot riding on this weekend to recover its investment. Industry insiders say that the makers are ‘safe’ based on theatrical, digital and satellite deals that have been struck, but there’s a big question mark over whether the film will become profitable for stakeholders.