Kiran Abbavaram’s Chennai Love Story is set to end its North American theatrical run with a gross of just under $575,000. For a Kiran Abbavaram film, this is a respectable number. However, from a business point of view, the story is different.
The film’s North American break-even target was reportedly around $1 million. That means it has fallen well short of the mark, and the overseas distributors are expected to suffer significant losses.
While Chennai Love Story has performed better in the Telugu states and is emerging as a successful film overall, its performance in the US has been disappointing.
There could be several reasons for this. Some viewers may not have connected with the film’s emotional scenes, especially in the second half. Another factor could be that Kiran Abbavaram still does not have the star power to bring audiences to theatres in the US if a film receives mixed or poor reviews.
The US Telugu audience also tends to rely heavily on reviews and word of mouth before deciding to watch a film. Since the response to Chennai Love Story was extremely mixed, the collections were affected.
So, while $575,000 is a decent final total for a Kiran Abbavaram film, it is not enough from a business perspective. The film is likely to end up as a success overall but a loss-making venture for its US distributors.
