The Telugu film Baahubali is being blamed for creating a huge crisis for Kannada films in Bengaluru and rest of Karnataka. But a closer look reveals that it is Tamil and English films that have borne the maximum burnt. The Telugu film has taken over all the screens that were screening Tamil films in Bengaluru. And surprisingly it is not the Tamil version that is being screened here. Though the film is being released in four languages most of the theatres are screening only the Telugu version. Only a small number of theatres Kannada films have been occupied.
The Tamil, Malayalam and Hindi versions have been released only in a handful of theatres in Bengaluru. The Telugu version has been released in 51 theatres including multiplexes. In multiplexes alone there are 301 shows of the Telugu version of the film on Friday. The statistics show that Tamil films are losing. While Kannada films are also losing some shows it is not as dramatic as what is being felt by Tamil.
Kannada films Ranna and Vajrakaya have completed 25 days. On Thursday they had 20 and 7 shows in multiplexes respectively. They are down to 6 and 2 respectively on Friday. Rangi Taranga which was getting a good response is down to 6 shows on Friday from 18 on Thursday in multiplexes. Two Tamil films that were doing well in Bengaluru multiplexes were Kaaka Muttai and Papanasham. Kaaka Muttai has lost all eight shows going from Thursday to Friday. Paapanasham starring Kamal Hassan is the biggest loser though it was hailed as a very good film. From 101 shows on Thursday, it is down to 11 shows on Friday and only 8 shows on Saturday and Sunday! Even English films are facing a problem. Terminator Genisys is down from 130 shows on Thursday to just 13 shows on Friday. Another English film Jurassic World has fared a little better. From 60 shows in multiplexes on Thursday it has maintained 30 shows on Friday.
Baahubali thus has taken over most of the Tamil and English screens and to a lesser extent Kannada films. But since there is no big Kannada film released this week, there is no competition to Baabhubali in Karnataka. But how it will affect collections of already released Kannada films this week has to be seen.
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