Kamal Haasan’s much-talked-about magnum opus, Indian 2, has finally arrived in theatres worldwide. It has been in the making for a long time and has faced several delays for various reasons. Despite the big names attached to it, the film failed to build a strong buzz around itself, and the advance booking at the Indian box office was really underwhelming for day 1. Keep reading to know more!
For those who don’t know, the film is a sequel to Shankar’s Indian, which was released in 1996. The first installment was a huge theatrical success and enjoyed highly positive reviews from critics. Over the years, it even gained cult status among audiences. Unfortunately, despite so much glory in the kitty, the sequel couldn’t generate any excitement.
Both Kamal Haasan and director Shankar are big names in the Indian film industry and have established their own brand. Kamal is coming fresh from the terrific performance of Kalki 2898 AD; on the other hand, Shankar is returning after 6 years as his 2.0 was released in 2018. Still, there’s not much hype on the ground level, and the major reason is said to be too many delays in the release and unappealing promotional material.
Still, the franchise factor has worked a bit in favor as Indian 2 has closed its day 1 advance booking at 11.20 crores gross across the nation and all languages included (excluding blocked seats). This includes a count of over 6.25 lakh sold-out tickets in India. It’s a good number if we look at it in isolation. However, considering the popularity of the predecessor and the exorbitant cost of the making, this number looks underwhelming.
Indian 2 fared even lower than Vikram, Kamal Haasan’s last film as the main lead. For those who don’t know, Vikram closed its opening day advance booking at 15.60 crores gross in India (excluding blocked seats). The only positive is that the Indian sequel is showing a much better response in the Telugu states than Vikram.