F3, the Telugu comedy-drama starring actors Venkatesh Daggubati and Varun Tej that released in theatres on Friday, has collected around Rs 44.4 crores (gross) at the box office Andhra Pradesh and Telangana in its first three days, Anupam Reddy, Secretary of the Telangana State Film Chamber of Commerce tells Silverscreen India.
Directed by Anil Ravipudi, F3 is a standalone sequel to the 2019 film F2: Fun and Frustration. Aside from Varun and Daggubati, it also features actors Tamannaah Bhatia, Mehreen Pirzada, and Rajendra Prasad, among others.
According to the makers, F3 has collected Rs 63.5 crore (gross) worldwide in three days.
While the film has managed to get past the 50-crore mark worldwide, cinema owners note that F3’s performance falls somewhere between average to good in theatres across Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
Reddy says, “The film’s performance is average. It is not running to full occupancy and has seen about 60-70% occupancy across theatres. F3 is mostly appealing to family audiences owing to its content and comedy.”
Echoing Reddy’s opinion, Balgovind Raj Tadla, Secretary of Greater Telangana Exhibitors Association and partner at Sudharshan 35mm and Devi 70mm single-screen theatres in Hyderabad, notes that F3 has only got a mediocre reception from audiences.
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Unlike Telugu films that were released earlier, such as Acharya and Sarkaru Vaari Paata, F3 has not availed of a ticket price hike. It is notable that theatre owners had earlier opined that the ticket price hike adversely impacted the performances of those films. Thus, for F3, Dil Raju, who produced the film under the Sri Venkateswara Creations banner, avoided opting for the hiked rates.
Tadla says, “F3 did not opt for a hike in ticket prices and that has given a slight advantage to the film. The movie has received decent footfall in our premises, with varied audiences coming in to watch it. It is doing fairly well owing to Venkatesh’s comedy and the presence of popular faces.”
Speaking further about the ticket price hikes in recent times, he adds, “The pricing between six to nine months ago was much lesser than what it is today, so many people in the industry are of the opinion that reverting to the earlier rates might be better. We are all looking to keep audiences coming back to theatres to watch films.”