Box Office Weekend Winners: Mohanlal Reigns Supreme with ‘Drishyam 3’, Suriya’s ‘Karuppu’ Maintains Solid Run, ‘Chand Mera Dil’ Falters

Mohanlal remains the biggest box office force in Malayalam cinema. As he returned as Georgekutty for the proposed last chapter of his popular thriller drama film franchise “Drishyam,” audiences flocked to cinemas in massive numbers.

“Drishyam 3” released on Mohanlal's birthday on Thursday (May 21) and opened at a massive ₹15 crore, recording the second biggest Malayalam opener of all time. Although the film has received mixed reviews, it did not impact numbers. The audiences returned to watch the conclusion of a story that has captivated them for over a decade. Director Jeethu Joseph has once again delivered a gripping drama that keeps audiences hooked until the very end.

After a strong opening, “Drishyam 3” sustained the momentum and emerged as the top audience choice over the weekend. It collected ₹10.50 crore on Friday, ₹13 crore on Saturday and another ₹13.20 crore on Sunday, taking its 4-day weekend sum to ₹51.70 crore net at the domestic box office. Internationally, the film has performed even better, ₹78 crore gross overseas — which is more than 50% higher than its domestic collection. The worldwide gross for the opening weekend stands at a staggering ₹139.01 crore.

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Box Office Weekend Winners: Mohanlal Reigns Supreme with ‘Drishyam 3’, Suriya’s ‘Karuppu’ Maintains Solid Run, ‘Chand Mera Dil’ Falters

Box office Weekend Winners: Suriya’s ‘Karuppu’ Roars at Box Office; ‘Pati Patni Aur Woh Do’ Shows Steady Growth

Meanwhile, Suriya's Tamil action entertainer “Karuppu” maintained an impressive hold during its second weekend and has now emerged as the biggest Tamil film of this year. The film kicked off its second Friday with ₹7.10 crore and witnessed a remarkable jump of nearly 60% on Saturday (₹11.40 crore), followed by another 18% surge on Sunday (₹13.50 crore) to record ₹32 crore (net) second weekend. The 10-day total at the domestic box office has now reached ₹132.14 crore, while overseas has contributed an additional ₹64.75 crore, pushing its worldwide total to ₹220.68 crore (gross).

The surprising entry to the top 5 grossers this weekend was Marathi film, “Deool Band 2”, which has collected ₹15.75 crore over its four-day weekend. Directed by Pravin Tarde and starring Mohan Joshi, Snehal Tarde, Mahesh Manjrekar, Pravin Tarde, and Mangesh Desai, the devotional comedy opened extremely well on Thursday (₹2.45 crore) and recorded substantial growth over the weekend courtesy the highly positive word of mouth.

In contrast, Lakshya and Ananya Panday's romantic drama “Chand Mera Dil” turned out to be a disappointing affair at the box-office, earning a modest ₹10.65 crore over the weekend. The Dharma Productions venture opened poorly at ₹2.85 crore on Friday and failed to show any major growth even on Saturday (₹3.65 cr) or Sunday (₹4.15 cr), indicating that the film’s content has struggled to connect with audiences. With mixed-to-negative reviews and word-of-mouth, “Chand Mera Dil” is unlikely to see a turnout in the coming days and is expected to emerge as another commercial failure for Hindi cinema.

Last week's “Pati Patni Aur Woh Do” recorded an impressive hold on its second weekend, adding ₹7.24 crore — over -55% from its first weekend of ₹17.10 crore. The 10-day total now stands at ₹35.69 crore net, a decent figure but not living up to franchise expectations or meeting even production cost. The Ayushmann Khurrana, Sara Ali Khan, Wamiqa Gabbi and Rakul Preet-starrer romantic comedy has a long way to go before it can be considered a box-office success.

On the other hand, “Krishnavataram Part 1: The Heart” has emerged as a surprise success story of the season. The Hardik Gajjar-directed devotional film starring Siddharth Gupta and Sushmitha Bhat has received widespread appreciation from audiences for its visually appealing storytelling, impeccable performance and soulful music. Since its release on May 7, the film has consistently been attracting audiences to cinemas and added another ₹4.16 crore on its fourth weekend, bringing its total to ₹28.88 crore net at the box office.

Among Hollywood release, “Star Wars: The Mandalorian & Grogu” failed to generate any significant buzz and collected ₹3.03 crore net during the first weekend in India. However, it has recorded an opening of $102 million in North America over the four-day weekend.

BOX OFFICE WEEKEND GROSSERS (May 22-24)

(Figures are taken from RecoBee and Sacnilk)