Leo Hindi box office: Thalapathy Vijay starrer shines in North India, multiplexes suffer holiday losses

Thalapathy Vijay's latest movie Leo is exceeding expectations at the global box office for various reasons. One of the big surprises is the bullish performance of the Hindi version of Leo.

Historically, apart from exceptional cases involving Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan, the Tamil movies dubbed in Hindi have not resonated with the movie-going audiences in the North Indian belt. The Telugu and Kannada movies have cultivated an expanding market in the Hindi belt with movies like RRR, KGF: Chapter 2 and the mighty Pushpa: The Rise. However, Tamil cinema has yet to find a substantial foothold in the Hindi box office.

Leo clicks with masses in Hindi

Vijay's Leo has defied that trend by outperforming predictions of the trade in the North Indian states. In the four days after its release, the Hindi version of Leo has managed to rake in nearly Rs 10 crore from the domestic market alone.

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The opening weekend earnings for the Hindi version of "Leo" could have been even more significant had it been released on national multiplex screens. "The Multiplex giants OTT-Deal terms rule didn’t match with Leo & entire Hindi belt is having a dull season, as there aren’t any good films running at the moment. It’s a loss for the Multiplex chains this Dasara, as they lost on screening a notable big ticket film like Leo," said Vamsi Kaka, the PRO for Leo.

Multiplex chains count losses

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For the uninitiated, national cinema chains refused to screen the Hindi version of Leo owing to the shorter OTT release window. As per the current mandate by the multiplex chains in North India, new Hindi movies must exclusively play in cinemas for at least 8 weeks before they become available for streaming.

Given that Leo is expected to arrive on Netflix four weeks after its theatrical run, the multiplex chains opted out of screening the movie's Hindi version. In protest, the producers also decided not to screen the Tamil version in the multiplex chains in the Hindi market.

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With Ganapath, starring Tiger Shroff, Amitabh Bachchan and Kriti Sanon, finding no takers at the ticket window, multiplex chains are facing significant losses during the Dussehra holidays.

In the meantime, the Hindi version of Leo is performing well in single cinemas.