EPIC - First Semester has turned out to be a BO flop. Released in theatres last Friday, its first weekend gave it around Rs 8 Cr (worldwide). This is about ten crores less than what Baby, featuring the same pair (Anand Deverakonda and Vaishnavi Chaitanya), made three years ago on the first weekend. EPIC was on a downward spiral over the weekend, with Sunday's underwhelming numbers conveying that the film's revival is out of question. The recent Korean Kanakaraju made at least Rs 12 Cr more than EPIC on the first weekend.
The audience have disliked EPIC for what they feel is a random connection to the web series, #90s - A Middle Class Biopic. The conversations between the lead pair don't add anything after a point; they also sound phony. The lead performances have also contributed to the failure. Many feel Anand has become a dull actor; to be fair to him, he simply imitated director Aditya Haasan here. It's his dialogue delivery that has been sounding woefully the same. Vaishnavi's acting is affected.
Sardar 2, starring Karthi in a dual role, is a washout. It's a disaster in Telugu and Tamil as well. Its first weekend worldwide gross (all languages) is reportedly less than Rs 20 Cr. At this rate, it is virtually over for the PS Mithran directorial; it is impossible for the spy action thriller to break-even. Made on a budget of Rs 100 Cr, the SJ Suryah-co-starring film has given huge losses to its distributors. Karthi's low-energy performance, the run-of-the-mill feel of the genre, and the cliches in the second half have undone the sequel. At the Tamil box office, Soori-Suhas' Mandaadi has performed much better, contributing to Sardar 2's washout.
