17 August 2018
Hyderabad
Tuesday is a good day to premiere a film with good craze in USA. That’s because of buy 1 get 1 free offer to AT&T customers. This year has seen three such films - Agnyaathavasi (premieres collection: $1.52 Million), Mahanati (premieres: $314k) and Geetha Govindam (premieres: $403k). All three films had valid reasons to release on Wednesday in India. January 10 is a good day for Agnyaathavasi because of Sankranthi holidays. Mahanati is premiered on 8 May because 9 May (India release date) is sentimental for producer because Jagadeka Veerudu Athiloka Sundari was also released on the same day and went on to become a classic and huge blockbuster. 15 August turned out to be lucky coincidence for Geetha Govindam because it's a holiday in India and 14 August turned out to be Tuesday.
Premiering on Tuesday in USA has its downside as well. If the movie is not good, it fizzles out before the 1st weekend. Luckily, both Mahanati and Geetha Govindam overcame that hurdle due to good reviews and strong word of mouth.
Vijay Deverakonda’s films Pelli Choopulu ($1.22M) and Arjun Reddy ($1.78M) went on to become million dollar films in USA. He has such a good craze that Geetha Govindam raked in $403k through premieres and went on to become a million dollar film in the morning of Saturday. The trend now seems to be unstoppable and the next target is going to be $2 Millions.
GA2 which is a branch of prestigious Geetha Arts banner has Bunny Vas (close friend of Bunny and got mentored by Allu Arvind to take over as producer for Geetha Arts). The production number one from GA2 was Bhale Bhale Magadivoy which went on to become a big hit and has opened market for Nani with a million dollar collection in USA (Nani’s earlier highest USA collection was $247k). It was a family entertainer and a love story with lot of comedy. Their second venture Geetha Govindam too has same traits. It’s also a family entertainer and a love story with lots of comedy.
Director Parasuram who has shown signs of brilliance in Solo film didn’t get the proper script/production house to take him to the next level. Geetha Govindam has thrown him into limelight now.
Rakshmika Mandanna seems to be a lucky charm in Telugu. Her debut Telugu film Chalo was a hit and went on to collect more than $750k in USA. Her second Telugu film is a big hit both in India and USA.
Sarigama Cinemas - a relatively new entrant into USA distribution market have scored a hit with Chalo in the beginning of new year. They again bagged another big hit with Geetha Govindam. Sarigama Cinemas have done well to exploit market to get more collections for this deserving film.
The ball is rolling now and the next big commercial release is Sailaja Reddy Alludu which is releasing on 31 August. Till then, Geetha Govindam is expect to have a field day in India and in USA.
