Box-office behemoth off to boisterous start

‘KGF Chapter 2’ opened to a near-mass hysteria across the state on Thursday, demonstrating the audience’s unprecedented response and restlessness to watch the sequel to KGF Chapter 1.

The four-year wait ended around midnight at many places when some theatres screened the film in the early hours of Thursday.

Bursting of firecrackers, distribution of sweets and mass dances marked the release at Urvashi theatre in Bengaluru at 12 midnight.

The first shows were house full at many theatres in the city as early as 3 am.

“Children, the elderly, men and women waited to get inside for the 4 am show in a theatre at Kengeri,” Ranjith, a fan, said.

There was a festive mood at most theatres, while there was a heavy rush at multiplexes.

Puja was performed to the screens and Yash’s cutouts at a few theatres in Gandhinagar. Processions were taken out by beating drums and blowing trumpets at Triveni theatre in Majestic area. In many places, there was mass feeding by Yash’s fans.

“I was restless to watch the movie. There was a heavy rush at GT World Mall. It was a ‘paisa vasool’ film,” Nischith Bannur, a student, said.

“It’s a feat as far as the Kannada film industry is concerned. The flick, riding on the mother-son sentiment, leaves an impact, “ Lakshmi Basavaraj, a homemaker said.

It was difficult to control crowds near Prasanna and Veeresh theatres on Magadi Road for the police.

Audiences from different age groups thronged Vaishnavi Vaibhavi Mukta A2 Cinemas at Uttarahalli for the 7 shows. Yash’s fans burst firecrackers and distributed sweets at Navarang theatre.

A large group of women, mostly young girls, had booked all tickets at Venkateshwara theatre in Kengeri.

They performed ‘abhisheka’ to Yash’s cutout and garlanded it. Puja was performed to the box office and the screen.

In some theatres, coins and currency notes were thrown at the screen.

As soon as the show began, initial scenes elicited whoops and whistles.

The situation was mostly similar in many places across the state. The police used canes mildly to control the situation in some places.

There were over 2,500 shows in Bengaluru alone and over 2,000 shows in the rest of Karnataka. Trade analysts said that the flick collected over Rs 120 crore, including over Rs 40 crore in Karnataka and Rs 8 crore in the US, on the first day.

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