Hemanth M Rao reveals Agnyathavasi’s first weekend footfalls; is it a decent organic number? Netizens debate

Agnyathavasi, produced by filmmaker Hemanth M Rao, released in theatres on April 11, a day after a majority of the week’s films – Good Bad Ugly, Jaat, Jack, Bazooka, Maranamass and Alappuzha Gymkhana – came out. Considering that it was a directorial venture by Gultoo maker Janardhan Chikkanna, backed by Hemanth and starring Rangayana Raghu in the lead, who, post Shakhaahaari has a whole new fan base, Agnyathavasi had decent buzz going for it pre-release.

When the film came out, the feedback from critics and moviegoers was also largely positive, and yet, Agnyathavasi’s first three days registered only around 15,000 footfalls, which, in terms of box office figures will be around the figure that the Malayalam film Alappuzha Gymkhana made on its opening day. The footfalls figure was revealed by Hemanth, as he took to social media to urge audiences to give the film a chance in theatres, given that after an initial uptick, trackers have been reporting a fall in shows for Agnyathavasi.

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Responding to Hemanth’s tweet, netizens have been divided about their thoughts. While some blamed Hemanth for not promoting the film enough outside of online platforms, a few cited lack of shows in key centres as a reason for audiences not watching it. The clash with Good Bad Ugly, which is reported to have made Rs 10 crore in 5 days at the Karnataka box office, as well as the ongoing IPL season were also cited as possible reasons.

While the feedback about the film was split, with some absolutely loving it and others not impressed, 15,000 would be a good number to spread organic word-of-mouth publicity, felt netizens. A few were genuinely concerned about the post-theatrical fate of the film given that OTT platforms have not been most forthcoming about picking Kannada content.

In that aspect, though, Hemanth has nothing to worry, as Zee Network holds both satellite and digital rights of the film. The filmmaker chose to wait for more than a year after the film was ready for a more conducive atmosphere and managed to seal the deal. Whether or not the filmmaker is ‘safe’ with these post-theatrical remains unclear, but theatrical business would, no doubt, be a boost for people like him to continue investing in good content.