Kollywood: Average start for Thozha, Zero but Vaaliba Raja turns out to be a dud

Last Friday saw the release of six films at the Chennai Box Office. Tamil films Thozha, Zero, Adida Melam, Vaaliba Raja, Hollywood film Batman V Superman and Malayalam film Kali. Here is a short take on their Box Office perfomances.

Thozha

Vamsi Paidipally's Thozha had a good first weekend at the Box Office. The film stars Nagarjuna, Karthi, and Tamanna in leading roles. The film registered an average occupancy on the first day of its release. Advance bookings for the film were also not up to expectations. However, collections for Thozha have improved substantially over Saturday and Sunday due to positive reviews and terrific word-of-mouth.

Thozha managed to collect Rs 1.25 crore in its opening weekend at the Chennai Box Office. The film's Telugu version, Oopiri, has also done decent business. The film was highly praised by critics for the performances of the lead cast. Nagarjuna is essaying the role of millionaire suffering from paralysis and actor Karthi plays his caretaker. The film is rumored to be the official remake of French drama film The Intouchables.

Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice

The Ben Affleck and Henry Cavill starrer had a grand opening with a collection of Rs 85 lakh in the opening weekend. The film released on 240 screens, which is the highest ever for a Hollywood film in Chennai in recent times.

Zero

Ashwin Kakumanu and Sshivada Nair starrer Zero opened to a decent response at the box office. The film is receiving positive reviews from the audience, especially Sshivada Nair's performance. Unfortunately, clashing release dates with Thozha, Batman V Superman and also conflicting with the schedule of World T20 matches has affected the film's business. However, the film had an average weekend, collecting Rs 25 lakh, which is good for a film like Zero.

Kali

The surprise entry of the week is the Malayalam film, Kali. The Dulquer Salman-Sai Pallavi starrer had a massive opening at the Chennai Box Office. The film collected Rs 10 lakh from just 30 screens in Chennai, which is quite commendable. Dulquer's star power and the presence of Sai Pallavi of Premam fame worked wonders for the film.

Vaaliba Raja

The Sai Gokul Ramnath directed Vaaliba Raja saw a disastrous start at the ticket window. The Santhanam, Sethu, Vishaka Singh, Nushrat Bharucha starrer collected a disappointing Rs 8 lakh from 70 screens on its opening weekend.

-- Text By Sree Prasad Nair