Hari Hara Veera Mallu box office prediction: With ₹75 crore start, can Pawan Kalyan beat Ram Charan's Game Changer?

Hari Hara Veera Mallu box office prediction: Pawan Kalyan plays the titular character in Krish and Jyothi Krisna's historical epic.

Pawan Kalyan is returning to the big screen with Hari Hara Veera Mallu, his first outing since becoming the Deputy Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh. The actor-politician has implied that he may be on the last lap of his acting career in order to focus on political and administrative duties. Hence, the anticipation for Hari Hara Veera Mallu has been high. But it seems that all that has not translated into box office receipts. (Also Read: Hari Hara Veera Mallu movie review: Pawan Kalyan's film is no Chhaava, just one elevation scene after another)

Pawan Kalyan plays the titular character in Krish and Jyothi Krisna's Hari Hara Veera Mallu.

Hari Hara Veera Mallu advance booking

The advance booking for Hari Hara Veera Mallu opened on a promising note earlier this week. Sacnilk reported on Thursday evening that the pre-sales crossed ₹20 crore in India and ₹10 crore overseas a few hours before release. Industry sources put the final advance booking gross in India at around ₹30 crore. In addition, the film has earned over ₹16 crore overseas, including ₹4.50 crore in just North America. Thus, almost ₹50 crore advance booking is a promising sign for the historical epic, which has been mounted on a massive ₹300 crore budget.

Hari Hara Veera Mallu box office prediction

Hari Hara Veera Mallu has been mounted like a pan-India film, banking on Pawan Kalyan's star power in the Telugu states, and bringing in Bobby Deol to help sell tickets in the north. However, unlike a Kalki 2898 AD or even Jailer, HHVM does not have that strong buzz in the north that a pan-India release requires. Trade insiders are predicting a ₹40-crore opening for the film in India, with liberal estimates saying it could reach ₹50 crore as well. If that happens, HHVM will become Pawan Kalyan's biggest opening, beating Vakeel Saab's ₹40.50 crore mark. The film can earn up to $3 million ( ₹25 crore) overseas, giving it a global haul of ₹70-80 crore on day 1.

Is it enough though?

The big question is whether ₹70-80 crore on day one is enough for Hari Hara Veera Mallu. Sacnilk reported that the film's distribution rights have been sold at over ₹100 crore, which means it would need ₹225+ crore worldwide just to break even. For that, a strong opening day would be ideal. However, there have been films that have opened well, only to crash land the following day. Ram Charan's Game Changer is the biggest example. The film had a ₹80-crore opening worldwide, but fell so hard after that it ended its worldwide run at just ₹186 crore. HHVM is set to open lower than Game Changer. The only way it can earn more over time is through positive word of mouth.

All about Hari Hara Veera Mallu

Directed by Krish Jagarlamudi and AM Jyothi Krishna, Hari Hara Veera Mallu stars Pawan Kalyan as the titular outlaw, who goes toe-to-toe with the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb (Bobby Deol) in his search for the Koh-i-Noor diamond. The film also stars Nidhhi Agerwal, Nargis Fakhri, Nora Fatehi and Sathyaraj in other prominent roles. It is releasing in theatres on July 24.