Top 10 highest grossing films in AP/TS: Prabhas starrer Kalki 2898 AD Third, Beats Baahubali 2 in Nizam

The Prabhas starrer sci-fi epic, Kalki 2898 AD, has become the third highest-grossing film ever in the Telugu states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. After the second weekend, the film has amassed Rs. 231 crore in these twin states, surpassing Prabhas’ own Salaar for the third spot. The two films ahead of it our SS Rajamouli directed RRR and Baahubali: The Conclusion.

In Telangana, Kalki 2898 AD has done one better, by even toppling the previously unassailable Baahubali 2, with Rs. 115.50 crore in just eleven days, becoming the second highest grosser ever, just behind RRR, which grossed Rs. 165 crore. The film could have done better in Andhra Pradesh, where it is only half of RRR currently though the genre probably made it tough in the smaller centres of the state where it had a lesser initial but managed to pick up later on. 

The last couple of years saw box office grosses go down in Andhra Pradesh as the government heavily regulated ticket prices but the regime change last month has overturned that and we shall once again see record numbers coming. That said, with increased prices, the footfalls will probably suffer, as seen in Telangana. 

Telugu states have one of the best, if not the best, cinema-going culture in India, which in large part is because it remained affordable to the paying public. As recently as 2017, the average ticket price in Telangana was just Rs. 75 versus nearly double in the rest of the country. Cut to today, the prices have tripled but the grosses have only gone 50 per cent higher or so, which means a big decline in footfalls. In the long run, these prices are detrimental to the business and the industry needs to look at it that way.

The highest-grossing films at the AP/TS box office are as follows:

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