Mookuthi Amman 2 day 3: Sunday beats first two days combined

Mookuthi Amman 2 earned more on its first Sunday than on its first two days combined. The Nayanthara film collected Rs 4.60 crore net in India on November 8, up 87.8 per cent from Saturday’s Rs 2.45 crore and almost two and a half times its Rs 1.88 crore opening. That takes the three-day India net to Rs 8.93 crore and the gross to Rs 10.35 crore, and that is before any overseas figures have been added.

How the jump happened matters as much as its size. Sunday had fewer shows than Saturday (1,804, down from 1,910), but average occupancy climbed from 31.7 per cent to 58.2 per cent. More people in fewer theatres is the pattern of a film being talked up by people who have seen it, and the kind of growth exhibitors respond to by adding screens.

It also came the hard way. Mookuthi Amman 2 opened on November 6 into a crowded Diwali week, with Suriya’s Scene and the pan-Indian Ramayana taking most of the prime screens. Sundar C’s devotional fantasy is built for families, who tend to arrive on holidays and weekends rather than for first-day shows, and Sunday is when they arrived.

The Tamil version is doing nearly all the work. It accounts for Rs 8.45 crore of the India net, while the Telugu dub has added Rs 48 lakh so far. Over 5,841 shows in three days, the film has gained every day.

Nayanthara returns as the goddess she first played in RJ Balaji’s 2020 film, which went straight to streaming during the pandemic. That makes this sequel the franchise’s first theatrical release, and the crowds give Mookuthi Amman something its first outing never had. Our review found a loud, fast festive entertainer that relies heavily on Nayanthara, and it singled out her switches between a jumpy constable and the trident-wielding goddess as the film’s best moments.

Regina Cassandra plays Bhaira, a witch revived after 2,000 years, and Urvashi, Yogi Babu and Duniya Vijay are in the supporting cast. Hiphop Tamizha composed the music. Ishari K Ganesh produced the film for Vels Film International. Sundar C called it the hardest film of his life before release, a production with more than 3,000 VFX shots and a crew of 800. From a quiet Friday, the film made more money each day of its first weekend, and Sunday brought its best day so far.