Karthikeya 2 box office collection: Nikhil Siddhartha-starrer takes on Laal Singh Chaddha, Raksha Bandhan

On Saturday, Nikhil Siddhartha's mythological drama Karthikeya 2 jumped manifold from its opening day collection of a mere Rs 7 lakh in the Hindi belt. The Hindi version of the movie made Rs 11.25 crore until Saturday. The film is the sequel to the critically acclaimed movie 'Karthikeya' that was released in 2014.

Film analyst Taran Adarsh on Saturday tweeted that the movie has emerged as the preferred choice over Laal Singh Chaddha and Raksha Bandhan at the Hindi box office.

 "#Karthikeya2 #Hindi emerges first choice of moviegoers... Collects more than #LSC (Laal Singh Chaddha) and #RB (Raksha Bandhan) *yesterday* [Fri]... Mass pockets/single screens are super-strong... Will continue to dominate over the weekend... [Week 2] Fri 2.46 cr. Total: ₹ 8.21 cr. #India biz. HINDI version," he wrote.

Directed by Chandoo Mondeti, ‘Karthikeya 2’ stars Nikhil and Anupama Parameswaran in the lead. The film collected Rs 48 crore overall in its first week. The Hindi dubbed version of the movie, on Thursday, collected Rs 1.64 crore, while ‘Laal Singh Chaddha’ and ‘Raksha Bandhan’ were only able to collect Rs 1.3 crore and Rs 1 crore respectively.

‘Raksha Bandhan’ follows the story of Lala Kedarnath who struggles to get his sisters married. It stars Akshay Kumar and Bhumi Pednekar in the lead. Sahejmeen Kaur, Deepika Khanna, Sadia Khateeb and Smrithi Srikanth portray Akshay Kumar’s sisters in the film.  

Aamir Khan’s ‘Laal Singh Chaddha’, on the other hand, is the official remake of 1994 American film ‘Forrest Gump’. It also stars Kareena Kapoor Khan, Mona Singh and Naga Chaitanya in prominent roles.

Both these films have been at the receiving end of boycott calls on social media.  

Meanwhile, Taapsee Pannu-starrer 'Dobaaraa' also opened slow on Friday to a collection of Rs 72 lakh. Dobaaraa is the official remake of the 2018 Spanish film, Mirage.