Two films—Varun Tej’s “Matka” and Suriya’s “Kanguva”—released last weekend amid high expectations. Though Suriya’s “Kanguva,” true to its buzz, opened strongly, the film suffered due to heavy trolling and negative reviews. On the other hand, “Matka” turned into an all-time box office disaster, demonstrating that Varun Tej has lost his ability to generate strong opening collections.
Suriya promoted “Kanguva” as a visual spectacle akin to “Baahubali.” Therefore, the film experienced a significant opening on its first day. In its four-day weekend, “Kanguva” grossed approximately Rs 10 crore in Telugu states, the second biggest collection for the film after Tamilnadu. However, the film’s collections began to decline as negative reactions spread. If not for the trolling, the Suriya starrer would have posted big numbers in AP and Telangana.
Varun Tej’s previous three films tanked at the box office. And the director, Karuna Kumar, doesn’t have any popularity, and to be honest, hardly any ordinary audience knows his name. Therefore, despite extensive promotional tours, “Matka” didn’t generate much buzz. Expectedly, “Matka” opened to shockingly low numbers on the first day. The reviews and word-of-mouth were extremely negative. Consequently, the film suffered utterly.
With a budget of Rs 45 crore, “Matka” is the lowest-grossing movie in Varun Tej’s career, grossing less than Rs 2.5 crore in its first weekend.
