Producers Ram and Gopi Achanta, a still from Akhanda 2 
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Balakrishna-starrer Akhanda 2 opens well despite mixed talk

Though the much-hyped Balakrishna film did not fully meet expectations on day one due to its delayed release, Akhanda 2 managed a strong opening in the Telugu states

Cinema Express Desk

Nandamuri Balakrishna’s Akhanda 2 hit the screens on December 12 and received mixed reviews. Directed by Boyapati Sreenu and produced by Ram and Gopi Achanta, the film nevertheless opened well in both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.

The film also had paid premiere shows on Thursday night across the Telugu states. Producer Ram Achanta revealed that the premieres alone collected nearly Rs 10 crore gross.

He further stated that the film earned Rs 1 crore in Karnataka, making it the fifth highest non-Kannada film to achieve this figure through premiere shows in the state.

Originally scheduled for release on December 5, Akhanda 2 was postponed to December 12 due to financial issues. Despite this setback, reports suggest that the film’s first-day collections remained encouraging.

According to trade estimates, Akhanda 2 collected around Rs 30 crore net on day one in India, including paid premieres and collections from other language versions. The majority of the revenue came from the Telugu version, while the Tamil version posted a decent Rs 43 lakh net on its opening day. It collected an overall gross of Rs 59.5 crore all over the world.

The producers are yet to officially announce overseas figures, but trade sources indicate that the film’s performance abroad fell short of expectations. Many overseas tickets had been booked for the originally planned December 4 premieres, and the postponement impacted collections.

Balakrishna also promoted the film extensively in Mumbai to reach the Hindi audience. However, collections in the Hindi belt have been relatively modest so far. The makers are hopeful that the numbers will improve over the weekend.

As per the producers, the film was released across 800 screens in North India through Zee Cinemas. While expectations were high for day one, the delayed release appears to have slowed the initial momentum.

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