Kabali edges out Madaari in a disappointing opening day race at the box office

After the huge hype and hoopla surrounding Rajinikanth's big release, Kabali, the humbling reviews have arrived. The film's dubbed version earned a meagre Rs3 crore in the Mumbai territory. Of course, the major draw for Kabali remains in the Southern region. Even Bahubali (Hindi), the biggest earner from down South, made only Rs4.75 crore on its first day. This is well below the Rs13 crore nett the film has earned in the region of Tamil Nadu on the first day. The film has earned $1.45 mn gross in the US markets already.

The reviews for Kabali have been disappointing and cast a dark shadow on its future earnings. The film has been released across 1000 screens in the North, and 2200 screens down south. The only positive for the film seems to be the presence of Rajinikanth, who has become something of a new phenomenon for the growing audience of Tamil and Telugu films in the North. The film also received 400 screens across the US, in addition to theatres in Malaysia, Japan, France, and Thailand running the film.  

If Kabali's returns were disappointing, Irrfan's Madaari fared even poorly with its net earnings of Rs1.75 crore. The film follows an anti-corruption crusade, much like Kabali, but falls short of star power. Irrfan's presence has seen the film earned a little better in the region of Delhi NCR and Punjab, but it still falls well short of the expected mark. 

It looks like it will be a slow weekend at the box office.