Mahesh Babu's latest political entertainer Bharat Ane Nenu (BAN) has opened to fantastic collections in all release centres. It is the star's best-ever opening and is poised to emerge as his all-time best grosser, bettering Srimanthudu. There was a minor controversy on social media when the team declared that the film had crossed the 100 CR worldwide gross mark after just 2 days, but there is no denying that the film has done exceedingly well.
The team had a success meet in Hyderabad where Mahesh Babu sounded relieved at delivering a big success after a tough period of 2 years. "The past 2 years were emotionally very draining and stressful for me as I couldn't meet the expectations of my fans and well-wishers. It felt like I was letting them down, I'm very happy now. Koratala Siva garu delivered a blockbuster for me with Srimanthudu when I was going through a similarly rough phase. He has repeated the trick now and I'm sure that my combination with him will always deliver blockbuster results. He never felt the stress and tension of handling a big star's film and didn't let it affect his work," he said.
According to trustworthy Telugu box-office portals, Bharat Ane Nenu took a share of more than 38 CR from the two Telugu states after the opening 3 days; the worldwide share touched 60 CR. BAN needs to get a worldwide theatrical share of 100 CR to be termed a hit and it has covered solid ground in its opening weekend itself. The hold on the first Monday was also good and the team has now come up with an official 125 CR worldwide gross poster. Even with conservative estimates, one can definitely say that the film has comfortably grossed more than 100 CR after 4 days.
Apart from the Telugu states, Bharat Ane Nenu has also done great business in key markets like US, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Australia. In the US, the film has grossed more than $2.5 M after 4 days (including premieres). It is already the all-time No.5 Telugu grosser in the US behind Baahubali 2, Baahubali, Rangasthalam and Srimanthudu. It needs to gross more than $3.5 M to be a safe venture in the US. In Australia, it grossed A$ 339,133 (1.72 CR) in its first 3 days and stands next only to Padmaavat among all the Indian films released this year, in terms of opening.
In Tamil Nadu, BAN grossed 2.35 CR in the opening 3 days, which is a new record opening for a Telugu film in the state. In Chennai city, it earned 94 lakhs in 4 days, which is again a record opening for a Telugu film. Mahesh Babu has always been a popular star in TN and this opening reiterates that fact.
In Karnataka, BAN has grossed around 10.8 CR after 4 days. In Kerala, the release has been minimal but the film is doing well in the limited space that it has.
At the success meet, Mahesh Babu spoke about the hard work that went into making this film. The box office results prove that it has paid off. "I was working nonstop for this film till the very end – shooting by day, dubbing at night, shooting for a song in Spain and the pre-release event. I managed to sneak in a small family trip to Paris before the release but I was tense and constantly on the phone with Siva garu and Devi (Sri Prasad) as they were busy with the post-production," he said.
The superstar will now move on to his 25th film with director Vamshi Paidipally. He has also announced his 26th film, to be directed by Sukumar who is fresh from the massive success of Rangasthalam.