Ghaati, the much-anticipated comeback vehicle for Anushka Shetty, finally released in theatres on September 5, opening to a largely lukewarm response. While the reviews have been mixed, the audience turnout has been rather underwhelming too, especially considering Anushka’s stardom.

Reportedly made on a budget of Rs 50 crore, Ghaati collected Rs 2 crore (nett) on day 1 at the domestic boxoffice, according to a report from Sacnilk.com. Meanwhile, the opening overseas figures for the film are not known yet. 

The underperformance of Ghaati also comes as a surprise because of the film’s masses-pleasing genre and the boxoffice status of Anushka’s previous film Mrs Shetty Mr Polishetty, an urban rom-com which performed well theatrically despite catering to a relatively niche audience.  

It remains to be seen whether Ghaati will sustain any momentum at the boxoffice on Saturday and Sunday. While the makers of the Anushka starrer sold the non-theatrical rights at a record price, the theatrical rights for AP and Telangana have been reportedly for 12 crores. Now with a lack of strong word-of-mouth, it seems unlikely for the distributors to break-even theatrically. 

Directed by Krish Jagarlamudi, Ghaati marks the director’s second collaboration with Anushka after Vedam. The film also features Vikram Prabhu, Chaitanya Rao, and Ravindra Vijay in the lead cast. In our review for the film, we noted, “There’s genuine joy watching Anushka gracefully command the screen. But the writing turns sour. The tragedy that’s supposed to ignite her doesn’t sting as much as it should.”