Peddi worldwide box office collection day 3: The controversy around Janhvi Kapoor’s depiction in the new sports drama, Peddi, has not hurt the film’s box-office prospects at all. On its third day in theatres, the film saw a jump in collections as the weekend began. This took its worldwide collections close to ₹200 crore, raising hopes for a solid lifetime run for the Ram Charan-starrer.
Peddi box office update
The Buchi Babu Sana directorial collected ₹18.50 crore net from paid previews on Wednesday, adding ₹51 crore on Thursday, its release day. The film then added ₹26 crore on Friday and ₹28.85 crore net on Saturday. This has taken the film’s domestic haul to an impressive ₹125.25 crore net ( ₹150 crore gross) after three days. Peddi also holds the record for the best opening for a solo Ram Charan film. The only film of his that did better was SS Rajamouli’s two-hero epic RRR, which also featured Jr NTR. The film should now easily cross the ₹ 150-crore mark on Sunday. If word of mouth holds, the film could earn in excess of ₹32 crore net on Sunday.
Peddi was released as a pan-India film, but it has disappointed outside the Telugu states. Almost 95% of its collections have come from the Telugu version. The Hindi dub, released on over 1,000 screens, has not even crossed ₹10 crore after three days. This is a rather small figure given the film’s pan-India aspirations. Ram Charan is a known name and face in the Hindi belt, and the presence of Janhvi Kapoor, Divyenndu, and Boman Irani has also added weight to the film’s prospects in the north.
Regardless, the film has done well globally. Overseas, the film has been a grand success, grossing $4.5 million. This takes its global haul to ₹191 crore gross after just two days.
Criticism not affecting box office performance
The online criticism of the objectification of the female lead, Janhvi Kapoor, has not seemed to affect the film’s box-office prospects. Several viewers have slammed the film’s makers for using Janhvi merely as a prop and shooting her under an overwhelming male gaze. Following the backlash, director Buchi Babu Sana apologised and promised to change the offending scenes soon. Janhvi, meanwhile, has not spoken about the controversy.
Peddi beats Game Changer, Mirai
The way Peddi is going at the ticket window, it will soon cross the ₹200 crore mark. It has already crossed the box-office earnings of Ram Charan’s last release, Game Changer, which earned ₹186 crore. The film has also surpassed several recent Telugu hits like Mirai ( ₹189 crore). Given the positive word of mouth for the film, it should cross ₹250 crore by Sunday. This will also allow it to beat Prabhas’ The Raja Saab ( ₹208 crore). After that, its lifetime haul depends on how well it does over the weekdays.