This week, only two films were released in theaters. One is ‘Kanguva‘, starring Tamil star Suriya, and the other is ‘Matka‘, featuring Mega hero Varun Tej. Released amidst high expectations, both films disappointed the audience and flopped at the box office in Telugu states with dismal openings. The collections were shockingly less than half of what was expected. How much did these movies collect on the first day? What were the reasons for their flop? Let’s take a look.
Kanguva Collections
The film ‘Kanguva‘, directed by Shiva with Kollywood star Suriya, was compared to ‘Baahubali’ and promoted on a pan-India scale, raising high expectations. Released worldwide grandly on Thursday (November 14), ‘Kanguva’ initially received negative feedback from the premieres. Consequently, the first-day collections fell short of expectations. Trade sources reported that the film grossed Rs. 40 crores worldwide on the first day, with Rs. 12 crores from Tamil Nadu alone and Rs. 4 crores from the Hindi belt. It is noteworthy that the movie only managed to collect Rs. 6 crores in the Telugu states, where Suriya has a good market. The movie team expected over Rs. 100 crores on the first day but didn’t even make half of that, which was a significant setback. These collections were also primarily from advance bookings, and it is anticipated that the collections will drop further from today.
Where did ‘Kanguva’ go wrong?
Director Shiva crafted ‘Kanguva‘ by connecting a centuries-old folk tale to the present era. Despite choosing a strong storyline, he completely failed to present it meaningfully. The initial 20 minutes tested the patience of the audience, and even after (Kanguva Review) the character Kanguva appeared on screen, it failed to engage. The introduction of five clans—Pranavakona, Kapala Kona, Sagar Kona, Aranyakona, and Hima Kona—created a confusing atmosphere, and no clan connected with the audience. The loud dialogues of every character only added to the viewer’s irritation. However, Suriya’s performance in the roles of Francis and Kanguva, and Bobby Deol’s villainy as Rudhira brought some life to the film.
Matka’s openings were even worse
‘Matka‘, directed by Karuna Kumar with Mega Prince Varun Tej and Meenakshi Chaudhary, also opened on Thursday to negative reviews. As a result, the first-day collections were shockingly low. Trade circles announced that the film only managed to gross Rs. 1.2 crores worldwide, with barely (Matka Review) Rs. 80 lakhs to Rs. 1 crore from the two Telugu states. The occupancy on the first day was less than 20%. The trade circles were also surprised by such a low response to a film released with great expectations.
Reasons for ‘Matka’s’ flop
Director Karuna Kumar chose a very routine story for ‘Matka‘. ‘A young man with no significant background establishes a large criminal empire’ is a plot that has been seen many times before. While the story itself might have been acceptable, the conflict between the characters in the movie was completely lacking. The hero’s rise felt overly cinematic and did not seem natural. There were no real challenges faced by the hero. The efforts of the CBI to capture Vasu, who became a national threat, were not at all interesting. The strategies of the adversaries to defeat him were very weak. Apart from Varun Tej’s acting, there was not a single impressive point in the movie, according to the audience who watched it.
