Love Story, the Telugu film starring actors Sai Pallavi and Naga Chaitanya, which is written and directed by Sekhar Kammula, has seen the eighth best opening among Indian films released since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a report in Box Office India.
The film, which released theatrically on Friday, emerged as a box-office success and various Telangana theatre owners told Silverscreen India that Love Story has successfully pulled the crowds back to the big screens, particularly the family audience and women. They also expressed a hope that this would help revive the struggling movie business.
As per the Box Office India report, Love Story collected close to Rs 9 crore net on its first day, the best opening for a film since theatres reopened post the second wave of the pandemic. The report also added that the film performed particularly strongly in Hyderabad and surrounding areas, where theatres are allowed to operate at 100% capacity. Theatre owners in Hyderabad had earlier told Silverscreen India that they have seen about 70-90% occupancy in their premises.
Box Office India’s list of top 10 films that performed best since the pandemic is made up entirely of South Indian films. Hindi films are notably absent. The top Hindi opener thus far is Bell Bottom, starring Akshay Kumar, whose net earnings on the first day was under Rs 3 crore.
The report also pointed that for South Indian films, the first-day openings are vital, unlike the north Indian markets that depend on the weekend collection through multiplex business.
Pawan Kalyan-starrer Vakeel Saab, that released in theatres in April, topped the list with a Rs 37.5 crore opening. The list was also dominated by the Telugu industry, including films such as Uppena (4th place with Rs 12 crore), Krack (6th place with Rs 9.25 crore despite some starting trouble), Love Story (8th place with Rs 8.75 crore), and Red (10th place with Rs 7.25 crore).
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The Tamil films, Vijay-starrer Master and Karnan featuring Dhanush, took the second and seventh places, collecting Rs 35 crore and Rs 9 crore, respectively.
While Malayalam films failed to make the list due to theatres in Kerala still remaining shut, the Kannada movies Roberrt (3rd place with Rs 12.5 crore), Pogaru (5th place with Rs 9.75 crore) and Yuvarathnaa (9th place with Rs 8 crore) made the list.