Saaho pre-release business topples Baahubali: The Beginning

The makers of Prabhas-starrer Saaho have managed to do an impressive pre-release business. Touted as the most expensive action thriller ever made in Indian cinema, the Rs 300 crore film has reportedly recovered around Rs 260 crore through its theatrical rights. The film only needs another Rs 50 crore to be declared a commercial hit. With this, the Sujeeth directorial has broken the pre-release business of director SS Rajamouli’s mega-hit Baahubali: The Beginning and also holds the record for the second highest pre-release collection among Indian films, after Baahubali: The Conclusion.

Incidentally, all three films feature Prabhas in the lead role.

"The film has fetched around Rs 120 crore in Andhra and Telangana with its overseas rights bagged by a leading distribution house for a whopping Rs 42 crore. Prominent distributors from all over the country have bought the theatrical rights for huge amounts: Karnataka for Rs 42 crore, North India for Rs 27 crore, Tamil Nadu and Kerala for Rs 50 crore, and rest of the world for Rs 21 crore. So far, the film has recovered over Rs 250 crore of its production cost, and this is exceptional," informs a trade analyser on condition of anonymity. 

Also starring Shraddha Kapoor, Jackie Shroff, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Mandira Bedi, Mahesh Manjrekar and Arun Vijay, Saaho has background score by Ghibran. The film is slated for release in Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam and Hindi on August 15.