2.0 remains strong after first day

Superstar Rajinikanth's latest film, 2.0, seems poised to keep its momentum at the box office through the weekend in Tamil Nadu and Mumbai, according to sources. The Shankar-directorial is the sequel to 2010's Enthiran and is India's first film to be fully shot in 3D. The film has Rajinikanth reprising his role as Vaseegaran the scientist and Chitti the robot, with Akshay Kumar playing the main antagonist.

Mariyappan, manager of Albert Theatres in Chennai, which has traditionally been thought of as having a terrific atmosphere during the first few days of a Rajinikanth film, says that all the shows for the weekend are already booked. "The reception was fantastic on the opening day. People have really taken to the special effects and action sequences in a big way. The box office pull of the Superstar is still the same. With positive reviews being shared, we are looking at an occupancy of more than 95 percent next week too."

Reuben, owner of GK Cinemas in the city, is glad he decided to install the 4D sound system for this film. "Rajini fans are going for repeat bookings, and even the family audience seems to be impressed. We are booked out completely till Sunday night. Good word of mouth appears to have helped, as shows for Monday and Tuesday too are filling fast."

A spokesperson from SPI Cinemas also concurs. "2.0 shows are completely sold out across all our properties in Chennai and Coimbatore for the weekend."

Distributor Tirupur Subramaniam says that the good reception in the South is as expected. "3D shows are sold out on Sunday. The only reason Saturday is not sold out in all the theatres is because of schools and this being the exam season. But if things stay the course, we can expect that to fill up by Friday."

Veteran Bollywood trade analyst, Taran Adarsh says that the response to the Hindi version has been exemplary. "You have to remember that on a weekday, an 8 am show was 90 percent booked for the Hindi version in Mumbai. This, when advance booking opened only on Wednesday. The movie is a visual treat and we can definitely expect the word of mouth to fetch more audiences into the theatres this weekend. While it is too early to talk box office numbers, early trends indicate this will definitely get a reception on par with, or better than Baahubali."

2.0 was released globally yesterday in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi.