Bangarraju: The Nagarjuna, Naga Chaitanya starrer is officially a blockbuster, grosses over Rs 53 crores in 3 days

It was never going to be easy for a big hero like Nagarjuna to take a call to release his rural entertainer Bangarraju amid worries of the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic during Sankranthi. Fortune has indeed favoured the brave; the move by Annapurna Studios to schedule the film's release on January 14 has worked big time for fans, theatre owners and family crowds alike. Opening to mostly positive reviews upon release, the sequel to Nagarjuna's Soggade Chinni Nayana had a terrific opening weekend at the box office.

Bangarraju has collected over Rs 53 crore in the first three days, easily among the best opening figures in the careers of both Nagarjuna and Naga Chaitanya. While the film managed to collect a little over Rs 17 crore in gross the first day, the collections massively improved on Saturday, where it earned more than Rs 18 crore. The momentum was expected to continue on Sunday and it did and how! The film yet again moved past the Rs 17 crore mark on the third day. 

The news was officially confirmed by Akhil Akkineni, actor and son of Nagarjuna on his social media handle. "Im a proud son and a proud brother ! Sankranthi is truly yours team #Bangarraaju congratulations! Thank you to our director @kalyankrishna_k for giving us yet another blockbuster," he wrote. This is the third straight hit of director Kalyan Krishna for the banner, under which he had helmed Soggade Chinni Nayana and Rarandoi Veduka Choodham in the past. Naga Chaitanya carries the film on his shoulders along with Nagarjuna, while Krithi Shetty, Ramya Krishna do complete justice to their roles.

In the East Godavari region, Bangarraju is only second to Baahubali 2 in terms of registering the highest collections under three days. While Baahubali 2 had grossed Rs 1.41 crore in the region under three days, Bangarraju managed to collect Rs 86 lakhs, scaling ahead of films like Alaa Vaikunthapurramulo, Baahubali (part 1) and Rangasthalam. The film has music by Anup Rubens. ZEE5 has acquired the post theatrical streaming rights of the project. More theatres are being added for Bangarraju as we speak.