After setting the Telugu box office on fire on Thursday, Nandamuri Balakrishna’s Bhagavanth Kesari is now struggling at the box office. According to industry tracker Sacnilk, the Anil Ravipudi directorial had an impressive debut on Thursday as it minted Rs 16.6 crore, but on the second day in theatres, the film could only make Rs 7 crore. The film’s total earning stands at Rs 23.60 crore. The drop is around 57.8%.
Bhagavanth Kesari is facing some competition against Vijay’s Leo and Ravi Teja’s Tiger Nageswara Rao. Leo has been dominating the Telugu market and even Tiger Nageswara Rao had a decent start at the Telugu box office. Bhagavanth Kesari witnessed 46.01% occupancy on Friday, with night shows getting 51& occupancy.
Starring Nandamuri Balakrishna in the lead role, the film also stars Sreeleela, Kajal Aggarwal and Arjun Rampal. It marks the Telugu debut for Rampal. Bhagavanth Kesari follows the story of Bhagavanth Kesari (played by Balakrishna), who struggles to make his dead friend’s daughter Viji (Sreeleela) an Army officer against all odds. The film’s background score is directed by S Thaman.
Giving the film 3 stars, The Indian Express’ Raghu Bandi, in his review of Bhagavanth Kesari, wrote, “Bhagavanth Kesari tries hard not to be a regular Nandamuri Balakrishna movie, while having all the signature moments die-hard fans will expect from him. The film takes time to pick up the pace, which happens after the star appears in a fight in the jail. The usual heavy dialoguebaazi of Balakrishna is offset by a few funny sequences. Balayya’s Telangana dialect definitely sounds forced, but it is not too difficult to bear as the story progresses.”
