Nani and Srikanth Odela’s ‘The Paradise’ is now facing a tough situation after a strong opening failed to translate into sustained collections.
In North America, the film crossed the $2 million mark, but trade estimates suggest it stood far away to reach break-even. More importantly, a substantial portion of the total came from the premieres.
The sharp drop thereafter suggests that the initial curiosity did not translate into sustained patronage, with mixed reviews and word of mouth appearing to have affected the film’s subsequent shows.
The situation in Andhra Pradesh is even more challenging. The film opened well on the back of advance bookings, but collections dropped after the initial shows, and trade reports indicate that the Andhra regions are heading towards losses.
The Ceded region has shown relatively better performance, although it is not strong enough to change the overall picture.
The one clear area of strength is Nizam. The film has maintained its momentum in Telangana, giving distributors a possibility of recovering their investment if the collections hold for another week or so.
The Telangana-centric buzz around certain elements of the film, including the KCR-inspired character references, has also helped generate conversation in the region.
With the film finding comparatively stronger acceptance here, the makers are understandably focusing more promotional attention on Telangana. Using the promotion done by KTR for the film and the team visiting Sammakka-Sarakka temple is all part of this.
The Paradise, therefore, has a curious box-office story; a career-best opening for Nani, followed by a struggle to sustain the momentum, face loses in differenet regions and big chase to do breakeven.