Hyderabad:

The deadlock persisted through the morning, leading to the cancellation of the matinee and noon shows. However, by the evening, the situation stabilised, and theatres gradually began screening the film. Veera Dheera Sooran, which also stars SJ Suryah, Dushara Vijayan, and Suraj Venjaramoodu, finally made its way to the audience, albeit with reduced momentum.

Chiyaan Vikram's action thriller Veera Dheera Sooran, directed by Arun Kumar, faced unexpected hurdles on its opening day, impacting its box-office performance. Initially slated to hit the theatres on March 27, the film encountered major setbacks just hours before its scheduled release. Despite a promotional campaign across cities like Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kochi, Tiruchirappalli, and Chennai, the film's first-day-first-show was canceled, causing confusion among eager fans.

On Day 2, Veera Dheera Sooran collected an estimated Rs 3.25 crore, bringing its total domestic net collection to Rs 6.25 crore. The collections stayed stable without a major drop, but it's important to note that Friday had all shows running. So, even a small decline in collections is a bit worrying. With no major Tamil releases scheduled until April 10, when Ajith Kumar's movie Good Bad Ugly hits screens, the film still has an open window to improve its performance. Despite this, the film could not register good occupancy in Kerala, mostly due to stiff competition from Mohanlal starrer L2: Empuraaan, which continues to dominate the box office with record-breaking numbers.

Despite the turbulent start, the film managed to earn Rs 3.4 crore on its opening day, as reported by industry tracker Sacnilk. Nevertheless, this figure is significantly lower than the box-office records of Vikram's earlier films. As a point of comparison, his last release, Pa Ranjith's Thangalaan, brought in Rs 14 crore on its first day, with the Tamil version contributing Rs 12.4 crore.

The initial confusion and cancellations of shows certainly affected the turnout for Veera Dheera Sooran, which had a 21.14 percent occupancy rate during evening shows. However, the figure improved to 40.54 percent by night, as moviegoers gradually filled the theatres.

At the same time, the Telugu film industry also witnessed the release of the heist action-comedy movie Robinhood, starring Nithiin and Sreeleela, on March 28. Despite extensive promotions, including a marketing collaboration with former Australian cricketer David Warner, the film failed to meet expectations. According to Sacnilk, Robinhood earned an estimated Rs 2.3 crore on its opening day. The lukewarm response is attributed in part to its competition with releases like Veera Dheera Sooran and L2: Empuraan, which have captured the audience's attention across South India.

As the weekend approaches, both Veera Dheera Sooran and Robinhood will be wishing for an uptick in footfall. The next few days will be vital in deciding whether these films can rebound from their slow openings and establish a foothold at the box office. For now, both projects face an uphill battle as they contend with existing releases.