The Hindi version of Sukumar’s Telugu action film Pushpa earned Rs20.13 crore in its second week. But the Allu Arjun-starrer pulled off a rare feat by surpassing this figure the following week, earning an astounding Rs24.45 crore, as per figures shared by the trade website BoxOfficeIndia.com.
The achievement is all the more impressive considering the fact that the director and cast are not very familiar to North Indian audiences. This means that the film has benefited tremendously from word-of-mouth publicity. The Hindi iteration of Pushpa has so far collected a total of Rs71.49 crore.
Of course, the underperformance of the sports drama 83 in smaller centres is another major factor, as well as the postponement of upcoming projects such as the long-delayed Jersey, starring Shahid Kapoor, and SS Rajamouli’s magnum opus RRR. The Hindi version of Pushpa has a shot at entering the Rs100 crore club but that will depend entirely on whether theatres in Maharashtra and Gujarat continue to function despite the steep rise in COVID-19 cases.
The Hollywood superhero film Spider-Man: No Way Home also had a good third week at the Indian box office where it made Rs17.25 crore, taking its overall tally in India to a mammoth Rs206.86 crore.
Meanwhile, the theatrical run of Kabir Khan’s 83 seems to be winding down. The two-week total collection of the Ranveer Singh-starrer is only Rs91.78 crore.