Kangana Ranaut and Raghava Lawrence's Chandramukhi 2, the sequel to the Tamil horror-comedy film Chandramukhi, released in theatres on September 28. According to industry tracker Sacnilk the film's opening box office collection was Rs 7.5 crore including all languages. The film released in Hindi and Telugu is the sequel of Rajinikanth and Jyothika's Chandramukhi (2005).
According to Sacnilk, Chandramukhi 2 managed to bring Tamil film lovers to cinema halls and the P Vasu directorial reported 51.90 percent occupancy on Thursday in the state. The occupancy in Telugu states stood at 42.65 percent, however the film opened poorly in the Hindi belt as the occupancy for Hindi shows remained at 12.77 percent. The film is expected to pick momentum in cinema halls due to the long weekend following Ganpati Visarjan and Eid-e-Milad an-Nabi holiday.
Chandramukhi 2 sees Kangana return to the big screen after Dhaakad in 2022. The film bombed in India, earning only Rs 3.77 crores (gross) worldwide. The actor has been facing a bit of a lull in her career as her last few films like Thalaivii, Panga and Judgementall Hai Kya have also not been successful at the box office.
Chandramukhi 2 has received mixed reviews by film critics and sees Raghava in a dual role. The film's release clashed with Hindi films like Varun Sharma-Richa Chadha's Fukrey 3, Pallavi Joshi-Nana Patekar's The Vaccine War, and is expected to face steep competition from these two films in North India. Fukrey 3 is the third installment of the supersuccessful comedy franchise Fukrey and The Vaccine War is directed by National Award-winning filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri whose last films The Kashmir Files and The Tashkent Files have seen roaring success at the box office.
In an interview with The Hindu, Kangana Ranaut had opened up about Chandramukhi 2. The actor said, “I am the original Chandramukhi. It’s an origin story which delves into who she is, and why she turned into a ghost. I’ve not been a commericial heroine and I usually stuck to art films or women-centric films on our fights and struggles. But there comes a point in time where you want to try something new, and it’s wonderful to do a film with song and dance sequences. The film’s climax is something you should look forward to.”
(With inputs from agencies)