Dhanush’s most recent directorial and acting project, the rural drama Idly Kadai, is now pinned down significantly in its performance at the domestic box office after a terrific opening. Having an extremely breezy first two days courtesy of the extended festival weekend, the film collections have experienced a plummeting 50% dip on its third day post-release.
Based on initial industry reports, the movie padded its net Day 3 (Friday) collection to around 5.5 crores, thus bringing its total domestic net for all languages to 26.25 crore. This dip raises eyebrows about the long-term prospects, although the initial reports of how family audiences viewed the film, in Tamil Nadu, were positive.
Box Office Volatility
The box office journey of Idly Kadai began with a bang on Day 1 (Wednesday), raking in a whopping ₹11 crore, followed by decent numbers on Day 2 (Thursday) with ₹9.75 crore. But the steep dip on Friday indicates that the benefit from the initial holiday period is all but gone and the test for the film now is to retain the audience’s interest against new releases and some bad word of mouth. Although the collections on Day 3 will slightly swell the respectable total being half of opening day’s figure, such a huge drop very much indicates a shift in momentum.
Sustaining Momentum
The film continues to hold its own in its home state of Tamil Nadu, while collections have been frictional in other language markets. Reportedly, the occupancy rates have decreased on the 3rd day, indicating that a considerable chunk of the main fan base and holiday crowd has already consumed the film.
For Idly Kadai to convert positive early buzz into profit, it must showcase a strong recovery through the weekend ahead, specifically Saturday and Sunday. Industry analysts will be closely scrutinizing the weekend trends to see if this slice-of-life drama can break even and contend as one of the major hits of the year.
A recent media graduate, Bhumi Vashisht is currently making a significant contribution as a committed content writer. She brings new ideas to the media sector and is an expert at creating strategic content and captivating tales, having working in the field from past four months.
