'Sarileru Neekevvaru' verdict: Did Mahesh Babu starrer lose the perception battle?

The Mahesh Babu starrer Sarileru Neekevvaru hit screens on Jan. 11, 2020, and opened to a thunderous response at the box office. Nearly two weeks later, the film is still the top choice of the target audience but it seems to have lost the perception battle. While the Anil Ravipudi-directed movie is a commercial success, it has given Prince fans plenty to worry about nonetheless. Here are the key takeaways from Sarileru Neekevvaru's box office performance.

No non-Baahubali record for Prince

As Sarileru Neekevvaru faced no competition on opening day, many expected it to set a non-Baahubali record at the Andhra Pradesh and Telangana box office, beating Chiranjeevi's Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy. This, however, did not happen as it collected around Rs 32 crore (share) on day one, falling well short of the Rs 38.8 crore collected by the period-drama. It also failed to outperform Saaho even though the Prabhas starrer was promoted more like a Hindi film than a Telugu one.

Sarileru Neekevvaru fails 'Stylish' test

Ala Vaikunthapurramloo, starring Allu Arjun, arrived in theatres a day after Sarileru Neekevvaru and worked its magic. The Trivikram Srinivas-helmed movie emerged as the top pick of the family audience, which eventually helped it overcome 'Super Star' mania. In fact, on Wednesday (Jan. 22), Ala Vaikunthapurramloo collected Rs 2.52 crore while Mahesh Babu's flick could rake in only Rs 1.59 crore.

Word of mouth rules

While Sarileru Neekevvaru clicked with cine-goers, most fans slammed the train sequences and claimed that they pulled the film down big time. The climax too evoked mixed reactions, which affected the word of mouth.

Exception to the (unwritten) rule

Generally speaking, actioners fare better than family-entertainers during Sankranti. Given this trend and Mahesh Babu's star power, many in the industry expected Sarileru Neekevvaru to dominate Ala Vaikunthapurramloo. Unfortunately for the Spyder actor, the 'Stylish Star' bucked the trend and proved his mettle.