Victory Venkatesh’s Babu Bangaram released last Friday to commemorate his thirty years in Tollywood. The film, directed by Maruthi, was released amidst a huge pre-release hungama as the teaser and trailer and the Venky-Nayan combo and Maruthi factor generated a huge hype.However, critics gave the film a unanimous thumbs down and no critic rated the film beyond a negligible 2.5 to a consoling 3. Thanks to these underwhelming reviews, many thought that Babu Bangaram would take a major hit at the box-office.
But this Babu has proved that he is really Bangaram as female fans and families have owned up the film since day two and the first weekend collections are quite impressive. Babu Bangaram is expected to collect a worldwide share Rs. 15 crores until the end of Monday, including nearly 3 cr gross from the US and becoming Venky’s record solo overseas earner.
That brings Babu Bangaram to its halfway mark as the film was sold for nearly 30 crores including all territories. With the Aug 15th advantage, Thikka being a flop and no star hero film around, Babu Bangaram is expected to tread a royal path to breakeven.