'Kalki 2898 AD' has crossed the benchmark of Rs 300 crore in its first weekend in India. The film has enroled itself into the coveted Rs 500-crore club worldwide, and has collected Rs 100 crore nett with its Hindi version alone. Starring Amitabh Bachchan, Deepika Padukone and Prabhas in larger-than-life roles, it is the novelty factor that seems to have worked in favour at the box office.
After its four-day (extended) first weekend, 'Kalki 2898 AD' earned Rs 309 crore nett in India out of which Rs 168.7 crore came from the Telugu version. The Hindi version, which collected Rs 39 crore on first Sunday, ended its opening-weekend run at Rs 110.5 crore, reported the trade website sacnilk. 'Kalki 2898 AD' is now the fourth film starring Prabhas to have entered the Rs 100 crore club with its Hindi version alone.
Interestingly, 'Kalki 2898 AD' Hindi has collected more than 'RRR' Hindi in its first weekend. While the Nag Ashwin directorial enjoyed a four-day weekend window, the SS Rajamouli film had a regular three-day weekend. However, 'RRR' continues to be far ahead of 'Kalki' in the overall opening weekend race with a nett India collection of Rs 324 crore after three days. The film's Hindi version collected Rs 75.57 crore by the first Sunday.
'Kalki 2898 AD' has made another staggering record. As per the report published on the same website, the film has registered the biggest opening-weekend for any Indian film in North America, grossing an estimate of $11.2 million (Rs 93.35 crore) including the Wednesday preview shows. This is already bigger than the overall collection of 'Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani' ($10.06 million - Rs 83.90 crore), and 'PK' ($10.60 - Rs 88.39 crore) in North America.
The film has largely received positive word-of-mouth, with a special mention to Bachchan's towering presence and Nag Ashwin's vision. It will be interesting to see how 'Kalki' fares from Monday onwards, which is where the real test begins for any big film at the box office.
