Actor Dhruva Sarja's latest movie Pogaru has opened to a good response at the Karnataka box office despite receiving largely negative reviews. According to industry trackers, several shows had an occupancy of over 95 per cent even though the film is not a festival release.
Its day one gross collection is likely to be around Rs six crore, an impressive figure by Sandalwood standards. This suggests Dhruva is on the verge of establishing himself as an 'A-lister'.
The general perception is that the movie has made a solid impact at the box office as it is a complete masala/mass entertainer. It generated a fair deal of buzz among fans due to the controversial Karabu song, which appears to have gone a long way in establishing the movie as the choice of the janta in 'B' and 'C' centres.
Also read: 'Pogaru' movie review: A riot of toxic masculinity
The positive response to Pogaru, either way, suggests that the Kannada film industry is slowly returning to 'normal' after the Covid-19 lockdown. This is good news for biggies such as Darshan's Roberrt and the Yash-starrer KGF Chapter 2, which are slated to hit the screens in the coming months.
Pogaru is touted to be an action-drama that revolves around the journey of a goon/rogue who hates women because of an incident involving his mother. It features the 'Action Prince' in a new avatar, which has hit the right notes. It stars Rashmika Mandanna as the leading lady and marks her first collaboration with the young actor.
The 'Karnataka Crush', who made her debut with the Rishabh Shetty-directed movie Kirik Party, is going through a good phase on the work front. The star was last seen in the Telugu movie Bheeshma, which did well at the box office. The 'Kodava Beauty' will be hoping to score a big hit with Pogaru.
The film has, meanwhile, received flak for 'demeaning women' and featuring an 'outdated' storyline. The word of mouth is mixed, which may affect Pogaru in the long run