Yash starrer ‘KGF: Chapter 1‘ is the answer to all of them who say that regional film can’t make it big on the international platform. The film not only became the first Kannada movie to cross ₹ 200 crores in the global market but also became the first Kannada movie to get a commercial release in Pakistan.
Harish Mallya, a film reviewer and one of the organizers of the Bangalore Film Festival, confirmed the news, “The film was released on Friday in Pakistan and from the executive producer, we hear that it is running well. They have released the Hindi dubbed version of the movie and it is being received well across several multiplexes in Lahore and Islamabad. We understand it is doing quite well, although the distributors have not shared exact box office collection.”
“There is a lot of appreciation and almost a similar form of interest that was noticed in rest of the country,” he added, “This is the first Kannada film getting screened in Pakistan officially. Before this, there was a talk about Pawan Kumar’s Lucia being released but eventually, it was restricted only to film festivals.”
Box Office tracker and film writer Sreedhar Pillai, said, “The first half of KGF was set in Mumbai. So it has a north Indian connect. Nativity matters in films that are dubbed. A south Indian village-based subject might not do well if it is dubbed in north India. Also, the subject of mining is something that people in Pakistan too can connect with. And the film has plenty of action, which is a universal favorite.”
The film was released on 21 December last year with Shah Rukh Khan starrer ‘Zero’, it outran the latter and still running successfully in theatres. Surprisingly the film did great business in non-Kannada region, which made it the first Kannada movie to do so.
Only the Hindi version of the film has earned ₹ 42 crores. Biz analyst Taran Adarsh shared the film’s Hindi version collection on his twitter account. He wrote, “#KGF continues to withstand competition posed by new releases… First #Zero. Then #Simmba. Now #UriTheSurgicalStrike… Emerges a HIT… [Week 4] Fri 38 lakhs, Sat 55 lakhs, Sun 68 lakhs. Total: ₹ 42 cr. India biz. Note: HINDI version.”
#KGF biz at a glance…
Week 1: ₹ 21.45 cr
Week 2: ₹ 11.50 cr
Week 3: ₹ 7.44 cr
Weekend 4: ₹ 1.61 cr
Total: ₹ 42 cr
India biz. HINDI version.
HIT.— taran adarsh (@taran_adarsh) January 14, 2019
According to Taran, the film continues to withstand competition, first ‘Zero’, then ‘Simmba’ and now ‘Uri: The Surgical Strike’.
#KGF continues to withstand competition posed by new releases… First #Zero. Then #Simmba. Now #UriTheSurgicalStrike… Emerges a HIT… [Week 4] Fri 38 lakhs, Sat 55 lakhs, Sun 68 lakhs. Total: ₹ 42 cr. India biz. Note: HINDI version.
— taran adarsh (@taran_adarsh) January 14, 2019
The film was directed by Prashanth Neel, and it starred Srinidhi Shetty, Malavika Avinash, Achyuth Kumar, Anant Nag, and Vasishta Simha in key roles.