Rajinikanth, Amy Jackson in a still from 2.0 (courtesy YouTube)
Rajinikanth and Akshay Kumar's 2.0 has witnessed "terrific" improvement at the box office over the weekend, trade analyst Taran Adarsh tweeted on Monday. "Terrific growth on Sat and Sun speaks for itself," he wrote and added that the Hindi version of 2.0 has raked in as much as Rs 97 crore in just four days. The Hindi version of 2.0 made under Rs 20 crore on each of Thursday (opening day) and Friday but as it entered the weekend, it recorded Rs 24 crore and Rs 34 crore on Saturday and Sunday respectively. "2.0 puts up a superb total in its extended opening weekend... Biz on Day 3 and Day 4 specifically was fantastic," Mr Adarsh tweeted.
In more tweets, Mr Adarsh said that the box office numbers of 2.0's Hindi version witnessed a jump of about 41.67 per cent on Sunday (as compared to Saturday's collections). However, he also added that the "real test" for 2.0 will be to survive the week with impressive ticket sales: "While 2.0 nears Rs 100 cr mark after an impressive extended opening weekend, the real test for the film begins from today [Mon] onwards... It will be interesting to see how it fares on weekdays... Mon to Thu - the weekdays - are crucial."
2.0, which is said to be made on an ambitious budget of Rs 500 crore, has reportedly recovered Rs 370 crore through the sale of satellite and digital rights of the film. Read Taran Adarsh's analysis of 2.0's box office performance here:
Mr Adarsh also shared a gist of the film's performance at international markets:
The Hindi version of 2.0 has been distributed by Karan Johar's Dharma Productions. Celebrating the film's success at the box office, Karan Johar thanked the core team of 2.0 - director S Shankar, Rajinikanth and Akshay Kumar. "Massive Sunday! En-route to crossing 100! Dharma is so proud to collaborate with S Shankar sir's vision! Rajini sir's legendary status and Akshay Kumar's mega stardom," tweeted KJo.
2.0 has generated twofold interest in Bollywood because Akshay Kumar plays the antagonist in the movie. 2.0 is the sequel to 2010 blockbuster Enthiran. Rajinikanth reprises dual roles in 2.0 - he plays both Dr Vaseegaran and his creation robot Chitti. Directed by S Shankar, 2.0 may have opened to middling reviews on Thursday but both critics and audiences have appreciated the film's special effects and VFX.