Saaho, starring Prabhas and Shraddha Kapoor, is all set for release on August 30 in India and several other territories. Among the most anticipated films of the year, Saaho is expected to challenge the massive box office collections of the second biggest opener ever: Marvel blockbuster, Avengers: Endgame, and the highest Bollywood grosser this year, Kabir Singh.
The Hindi version is expected to open around Rs 15-20 crore, claims film trade analyst Girish Johar. “The buzz is very good. Prabhas and Shraddha are among the top actors and the response to the trailer is outstanding. It is a non-festive but a very wide release in Hindi. A non-holiday opening of Rs 15-20 crore would be fantastic, considering how some Bollywood actors struggle to deliver an opening of even Rs 10 crore,” he says.
Saaho will release simultaneously in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam but may not be able to touch the record set by Prabhas’ earlier film, Baahubali: The Conclusion. “It would not be fair to compare Saaho with Baahubali. It was a traditional Indian, desi mythological film. Saaho is contemporary, sleek, stylish and upmarket film. Prabhas is a star and is coming after delivering two of the biggest blockbusters but its not right to compare them.”
Talking about the opening of the film in the south, Girish said, “The film should open at roughly Rs 35 crore in Telugu, Rs 15 crore in Tamil and Rs 3-5 crore in Malayalam. The film should open across India at around Rs 60-70 crore in all languages.”
If the film opens above Rs 60 crore, it can easily beat the record of the highest Bollywood opener, Aamir Khan and Amitabh Bachchan-starrer, Thugs of Hindostan, which opened at Rs 50 crore. It can also beat the opening day figures of Avengers: Endgame, which made Rs 53 crore on day one. It will, however, not be able to beat Baahubali: The Conclusion, whose Rs 120 crore opening remains untouched.
Saaho will play in around 5000-6000 screens in India including 3500 screens in Hindi. It is expected to release in 1000-2000 screens abroad. It also stars Jackie Shroff, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Chunky Panday, Arun Vijay, Mandira Bedi and Mahesh Manjrekar.
Analyst Ramesh Bala adds, “Baahubali 2 is the biggest grosser in India… Saaho is Prabhas ‘s next movie after Baahubali 2. So the expectations are sky-high… The movie is releasing in several languages. A solo release on Aug 30th.. 1,500 screens in Telugu states and 550 screens in Tamil Nadu.”
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