Vishnu Manchu’s ‘Kannappa’ hit the big screens on Friday and received a good response at the box office on its second day. The Telugu devotional film continues to outperform the other two big releases of the week – Kajol’s ‘Maa’ and Brad Pitt-starrer ‘F1’- at the box office.
According to the tracking website, Sacnilk, the film collected an estimated Rs 9.35 crore nett on its opening day. On Saturday, the collection dropped to Rs 7 crore, bringing the total domestic earnings to around Rs 16.35 crore nett. The film maintained steady footfall across regions.
‘Kannappa’ is a mythological action-drama featuring brief appearances by Prabhas, Akshay Kumar, Kajal Aggarwal, and Mohanlal. It performed well in Telugu-speaking areas, with 44.42% occupancy on Saturday. The morning shows had 27% occupancy, which rose to 58.54% by night. In Tamil Nadu, the film recorded 19.84% overall occupancy, with higher numbers in the afternoon and night shows.
Despite lacking a strong Tamil connection, the star cast and universal story attracted viewers. The Hindi version had 17.37% occupancy, improving to nearly 29% during night shows. In Malayalam, the response was modest with 5.81% occupancy, increasing slightly at night.
Directed by Mukesh Kumar Singh, ‘Kannappa’ tells the story of Thinnadu, a tribal hunter who becomes a devoted follower of Lord Shiva. The tale highlights his ultimate act of devotion when he sacrifices his own eyes to stop the bleeding of the Shiva Lingam. Vishnu Manchu plays the lead role, supported by a cast including Mohan Babu, R. Sarathkumar, Madhoo, Preity Mukhundhan, Mukesh Rishi, Brahmaji, and Brahmanandam.
The film is on track to become Vishnu Manchu’s highest-grossing movie. It was released in all South Indian languages and Hindi but has performed better in Telugu so far. This marks a personal best for Vishnu, whose earlier films ‘Ginna’ and ‘Mosagallu’ earned less than Rs 1 crore in their lifetime. The last good opening for Vishnu was with the 2014 film ‘Rowdy’, which collected Rs 3 crore on day one and Rs 11 crore in its first week.
‘Kannappa’ stars Vishnu, Prabhas, Akshay Kumar, Sarathkumar, Mohanlal, Kajal Aggarwal, Preity Mukhundhan, Mohan Babu, Arpit Ranka, Brahmanandam, Brahmaji, Siva Balaji, Kaushal Manda, Rahul Madhav, Devaraj, Mukesh Rishi, Raghu Babu, and Madhoo. It is based on the legend of Thinnadu, a hunter who becomes a devotee of Lord Shiva. Akshay Kumar plays Shiva, Kajal Aggarwal plays Parvathi, and Prabhas plays Rudra. Kannappa received mixed reviews, and its performance over the weekend remains to be seen.
– Ends