There was a positive buzz around Century Star Shivarajkumar’s latest, Bhairathi Ranagal. It was, after all, a film that delved into the backstory of his character from Mufti - Bhairathi Ranagal. Audiences were excited to know what director Narthan had cooked up for the prequel. That, and the fact that the other big-ticket releases of the week – Kanguva and Matka – failed to create waves at the box office, worked wonders for Bhairathi Ranagal.

Bhairathi Ranagal clocks Rs 8.5 cr net in first weekend

The film, according to trackers like Sacnilk and Karnataka Talkies, showed growth by the day, with Day 3 (Sunday) recording the best box office figures. The first weekend gross is estimated to be around Rs 10-11 crore, with net figures said to be Rs 8.5 crore. The film’s true test begins today, the first Monday, and early reports suggest it had 15% occupancy for morning shows. It is predicted to gross between Rs 0.8 cr to Rs 1.1 cr.

While the film’s box office performance has been encouraging, trackers also point out that the Tamil film Amaran, which released on October 31, continues to have a strong stake at the Karnataka box office. In its third weekend, which coincided with the Bhairathi Ranagal release, Amaran made Rs 2.5 cr in the state, taking its total gross from Karnataka to Rs 2.25 cr, according to Sacnilk.

Bhairathi Ranagal is rumoured to have been made at a budget of around Rs 20 crore. The film looks on track to recover its money from the box office. This, along with the music rights sale to Anand Audio and the digital and satellite rights to Zee Network, should see the team sail through comfortably. The makers are also looking at releasing dubbed versions shortly.

Given that there are no major releases until Pushpa on December 5, and the next big Kannada movie being Upendra’s UI on December 20, Bhairathi Ranagal could be looking at a good run at the box office.

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