SS Rajamouli’s directorial Baahubali 2 released in China on May 4 and had a great start at the box office. The film had a better Day 1 collection than the previous Indian hits, Aamir Khan’s Dangal and Salman Khan’s Bajrangi Bhaijaan. However, there hasn’t been much growth on the second day at the Chinese box office. Baahubali collected Rs 16.23 crore on Day 1 and Rs 19.64 cr on Day 2, bringing the collection to Rs 35.87 crore.
In comparison, Indian films Dangal and Bajrangi Bhaijaan, which worked like magic in China, saw great growth on Day 2. For instance, Dangal collected Rs 12.99 crore on Day 1, which is lesser than Baahubali 2’s collection. However, there was 200% growth on Day 2 as the Aamir Khan film collected Rs 26.81 crore on Day 2.
Similarly, Salman Khan’s Bajrangi Bhaijaan collected Rs 14.66 crore on Day 1 and witnessed a good growth on Day 2. The film collected Rs 20.78 crore on Day 2. Its two-day collection was Rs 34.97 crore, which was marginally better than Baahubali 2.
One must also note that Aamir Khan’s Dangal opened after Guardians of Galaxy had already had its run at the Chinese box office. Baahubali 2 has one week only to stake its claim in the Chinese territories as Avengers: Infinity War is set to hit the screens in the country in a week. Will Baahubali 2 be able to see a good growth on Sunday? We will have to wait and see.
{{/usCountry}}One must also note that Aamir Khan’s Dangal opened after Guardians of Galaxy had already had its run at the Chinese box office. Baahubali 2 has one week only to stake its claim in the Chinese territories as Avengers: Infinity War is set to hit the screens in the country in a week. Will Baahubali 2 be able to see a good growth on Sunday? We will have to wait and see.
{{/usCountry}}The film performed well in Japan, where it had a 100-day theatrical run at the box office. SS Rajamouli also visited the country to meet the fans. In Taiwan, while the film failed to beat Dangal’s collections, it did decent business.
However, according to a report in Forbes, Baahubali was released only in a third of the screens that Dangal got. The collections were less than a fifth of what Dangal earned at the box office. Baahubali made a meagre $44,000 (Rs 29 lakh) in the first weekend, in comparison to Dangal’s $22,000 (Rs 1.4 crore).
The south Indian box office hit is approximately Rs 300 crore behind Dangal and to bridge this gap, the Prabhas and Rana Daggubati starrer needs a good run in China.
Author tweets @Priyanka_S_MCC
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