'Madras Cafe' earns over Rs.20 crore; viewers call it intelligent

Shoojit Sircar-directed "Madras Cafe", which courted controversy after Tamil activists alleged that the political thriller presents LTTE cadres as terrorists, has not only impressed audiences, who tag it as an "intelligent film", but also collected over Rs.20 crore in three days.

Trade analyst Taran Adarsh tweeted that the movie, which released Aug 23 on 1,200 screens, collected over Rs.20 crore within three days of its release.

"'Madras Cafe' collected approximately Rs 20.42 crore to Rs.20.67 crore net in its opening weekend. On Friday, it earned Rs.5.17 crore, Saturday Rs.7 crore and on Sunday Rs.8.25 crore to Rs. 8.50 crore," said Taran in his tweet.

The story revolves around the Sri Lankan civil war and has been praised for its intellectual content.

"The movie is very good. The occupancy this weekend was around 65 percent. I heard one of the viewers saying that it's an intelligent and honest film. The audience was mostly mature," an official of a multiplex here told IANS.

Co-produced by John Abraham and Viacom 18 Motion Pictures, the political thriller that stars John in the lead, along with Nargis Fakhri and Raashi Khanna, was reportedly made at a budget of less than Rs.10 crore.

Even filmmaker Karan Johar found the film "intelligent".