Two diverse offerings, a mythological spectacle and a romantic comedy, were presented to the audience over the extended four-day weekend. The audience has made its pick known, loud and clear. Rishab Shetty’s Kantara: A Legend Chapter – 1’s Hindi version is poised to end its opening weekend run at over Rs 60 crore, in contrast to Varun Dhawan and Janhvi Kapoor’s Sunny Sanskari Ki Tulsi Kumari, which has reportedly made over Rs 30 crore.

Set to amass a whopping Rs 200 crore by the night of October 5 across languages, the dominance of Shetty’s Kannada feature in the South market is not surprising. Bihar-based exhibitor and trade analyst Vishek Chauhan notes that the mythological drama is ruling the Hindi belt too. “In Karnataka, it’s a blockbuster, and [in other markets too], the film is making big money. It’s a super hit in Hindi,” he tells mid-day.

Given Kantara’s (2022) phenomenal run in the Hindi belt, the trade expected the second instalment to open bigger. However, Chauhan considers that an unrealistic ask. He reasons, “The trade thought that since the original broke out like the KGF and Pushpa franchises, the second part would follow the same trajectory and open at Rs. 30-40 crore. But Kantara doesn’t have any commercial hooks, like songs or romance. To expect it to open like a conventional blockbuster is [wrong]. The 2022 film’s [Hindi version] opened at Rs 2-3 crore, and this one did at Rs 17 crore. So, it has done six times the first part’s opening day.”

Rajasthan-based exhibitor Raj Bansal says while the festival release benefitted both the films, Sunny Sanskari ki Tulsi Kumari’s opening was compromised due to the clash. “I believe Sunny Sanskari… earned around 25 per cent less than it should have,” Bansal tells mid-day, before pointing out that Shashank Khaitan’s directorial venture has little going for it.

“There is no novelty in the story; it’s routine feel-good cinema. We have about a dozen of such stories coming. So, the audience didn’t get excited about the film. Varun’s last few films haven’t fared well. That also affects a release’s opening day collection.”

With the collections set to take a drop on Monday, trade expects Sunny Sanskari… to wrap up with a lifetime business of Rs. 60-70 crore. Chauhan adds, “This is concerning for Varun because this will be another flop for him. He needs to introspect because [rom-coms] were his turf.”