Kalki 2898 AD: Rs 600-crore multi-starrer gives Bollywood a new lease of life, but can it sustain momentum?

The initial box-office collection of Kalki 2898 AD has enthused the folks in the entertainment business. The science fiction film with a budget of Rs 600 crore was released on 27 June right in the midst of the T20 World Cup. Put out in six languages – Hindi, English apart from the four languages in the south – the Rs 600 crore project with a stellar star cast had a lot riding on it. The Hindi film industry, barring a few bright spots, has had a very difficult 12 months and needed that big hit to revive confidence.

Across languages, the net box-office collection in the domestic market for the first four days stood at Rs 308 crore, according to data sourced from saclnilk.com, with initial figures for Monday at just over Rs 5 crore. Manoj Desai, a well-known producer and executive director of Mumbai-based G7 multiplex and Maratha Mandir, admits he was apprehensive since the film hit the theatres on the day of the semi-final followed by the India-South Africa final on Saturday. “I expected a 50-60% occupancy in my theatres but it turned out to be a full house at Gaiety and Galaxy. The film has been helped to a great extent by a very positive word of mouth messaging,” he says. Maratha Mandir had an occupancy of 80%.

Of the collections, as much as 170 crore came from the Telugu version, while Hindi accounted for Rs 112 crore. Tushar Dhingra, Founding CEO, Dhishoom Cinemas, a multiplex chain based in north India, says the film started off slowly but managed to pick up well. “We have had a dry phase with limited releases and the audience was looking forward to a big release. Kalki has worked well across centres and that is encouraging.” He expects it to have a positive rub-off on Kill, an action thriller, to be released on 5 July. “Going by the initial collections, there is reason to believe that it will be as big as Baahubali 2: The Conclusion.”

On the specific issue of the World Cup, Dhingra is clear that the audience has multiple interests. “It comes to getting it right on content and if that is taken care of, people will come to the theatres. Kalki has a good mix of mythology and science fiction making it appealing to a larger audience base.”

To be fair, this week is more important only from a point of box-office collections being sustained. “This is basically a south Indian film and how it plays out in Hindi will be interesting. Recovering the large budget and making money for everyone will be a challenge,” says Amod Mehra, a trade analyst.