Hyderabad: Upendra's directorial venture UI, a dystopian science fiction thriller, has opened to a strong response at the Indian box office, collecting Rs 6.75 crore on its opening day. The film's unique statutory warning at the beginning has piqued the curiosity of audiences, adding to its appeal.
According to industry tracker Sacnilk, UI minted Rs 6 crore from its home state of Karnataka alone. The movie also earned Rs 70 lakh from the Telugu box office, Rs 4 lakh from Tamil Nadu, and Rs 1 lakh from the Hindi-speaking regions.
The film's Kannada version saw remarkable occupancy rates, with an overall figure of 72.44% on Friday, December 20. Night shows recorded the highest attendance at 89.86%, followed by evening shows at 75%, while morning and afternoon shows reported 63.06% and 61.82%, respectively. The Telugu version had an overall occupancy of 38.32%, with night shows leading at 54.66%. Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu reported a lower occupancy of 7.39%, with night shows performing relatively better at 17.17%.
Written and directed by Upendra, who also plays the lead role, UI features a stellar cast, including Reeshma Nanaiah, Murali Sharma, Sunny Leone, Jisshu Sengupta, Nidhi Subbaiah, Sadhu Kokila, Murali Krishna, and Indrajit Lankesh in pivotal roles.
Despite limited buzz before its release, the film's intriguing and unique presentation seems to have captured audience interest, setting a promising tone for its performance in the coming days.
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