Box Office: 'Blast' sees outstanding growth on weekend; Arjun Sarja movie doing phenomenal business in Tamil Nadu and Kerala
This action thriller, starring Arjun Sarja, Abhirami, and Preity Mukundhan, has defied expectations with its phenomenal box office performance. Despite a modest opening, strong word-of-mouth fueled incredible growth over its four-day opening weekend.
Tamil cinema is finally eating (and sleeping) well again. For a long time, it was Malayalam cinema that everyone was talking about. But for the last two weeks, the Tamil film industry has been in the limelight, what with "Karuppu" and now "Blast" doing phenomenal business. And in the case of both,
Tamil cinema is finally eating (and sleeping) well again. For a long time, it was Malayalam cinema that everyone was talking about. But for the last two weeks, the Tamil film industry has been in the limelight, what with "Karuppu" and now "Blast" doing phenomenal business. And in the case of both,
Tamil cinema is finally eating (and sleeping) well again. For a long time, it was Malayalam cinema that everyone was talking about. But for the last two weeks, the Tamil film industry has been in the limelight, what with "Karuppu" and now "Blast" doing phenomenal business. And in the case of both,
Tamil cinema is finally eating (and sleeping) well again. For a long time, it was Malayalam cinema that everyone was talking about. But for the last two weeks, the Tamil film industry has been in the limelight, what with "Karuppu" and now "Blast" doing phenomenal business. And in the case of both, the performance has been unpredictable, even with two of the industry's biggest stars at the helm. But "Blast" is undoubtedly the biggest surprise winner of the two!
The Arjun Sarja action thriller, which co-stars Abhirami and Preity Mukundhan in scene-stealing roles, has seen an outstanding growth over the four-day opening weekend, driven by strong word-of-mouth. Sacnilk figures show that though "Blast" started with a meager Rs 1.25 crore net total on Day 1 (Thursday), with just 1,728 shows and 21.5% occupancy, the net collection saw a 56%+ surge on Friday with Rs 2.15 crore (from 1,889 shows), followed by an impressive 111.6% surge on Saturday (Day 3) with Rs 4.55 crore (from 2,294 shows), and finally 31.9% surge on Sunday (Day 4) with Rs 6 crore (from 2,706 shows).
Produced by AGS Entertainment, the same company behind Vijay's "Bigil" and "The Greatest of All Time", and Pradeep Ranganathan's "Love Today" and "Dragon", "Blast" gave Arjun Sarja's biggest solo opening in ages. Though the actor has been part of the blockbusters of other superstars in supporting/antagonist roles, the film, which marks the directorial debut of Subash K. Raj, now sits comfortably alongside his 1990s blockbusters "Gentleman" and "Mudhalvan".
Tamil Nadu and Kerala have been the key revenue-generating regions for "Blast", which has so far registered a domestic gross of Rs 16.03 crore and netted Rs 13.95 crore. The total overseas gross now stands at Rs 5.55 crore (and counting), pushing the overall worldwide gross to Rs 21.58 crore. This four-day collection alone puts it on track to beat the domestic and lifetime collections of Dhanush's last film "Kara", which earned only Rs 30 crore in Tamil Nadu, Rs 53.68 crore worldwide and netted just Rs 37.53 crore domestically.
Though not everyone is bowled over by "Blast", the majority of the feedback has been positive, with some netizens acknowledging the fact that despite the film not being a game-changer in action filmmaking, it benefits from a fast-paced screenplay and cathartic action blocks that are placed in all the right places. Preity Mukundhan, especially, has been getting raves for the way she carried herself throughout the film, particularly in the action sequences.
With a duration of under 150 minutes, "Blast" has Arun Radhakrishnan as the cinematographer, Pradeep E. Ragav as editor and "KGF" fame Ravi Basrur as music composer.