It was a ruling by Disney’s Mufasa: The Lion King as a prequel to the iconic animated classic within the Indian box office. It did poorly in the US market after getting mixed reviews. However, the film has reached out to Indian audiences largely due to the voiceovers done by Shah Rukh Khan for Hindi and Mahesh Babu for Telugu.
It opened to Rs 7 crore on its first day and ended its opening weekend at Rs 32 crore. It made Rs 62.50 crore in its first week. The same momentum continued as it made Rs 6 crore on day 8, Rs 9.50 crore on day 9, and Rs 9 crore on day 10, leading to a total of Rs 24.50 crore in the second week. So far, this film has netted Rs 87 crore in India, more than likely going on to cross the Rs 100 crore mark shortly.
The movie is already declared a Hit in India, and crossing Rs 125 crore would officially declare it a Super-Hit. The voiceover by Mahesh Babu has captivated audiences so much that the makers decided to take it to the US to cater to his fanbase there.
Also Read: Unstoppable Mufasa! Shah Rukh Khan and Mahesh Babu’s film collects Rs 6 crore on 2nd Friday
But the analysts think that it was Shah Rukh Khan and Mahesh Babu’s voice-overs that lent Mufasa its huge success in India. Their star power possibly tilted the scale positively towards this venture. If these two stars hadn’t been voicing the characters, Mufasa probably would have taken considerable time to get off the ground in the Indian markets.
All this brings us, with a further allegorical flourish, to recognize Mufasa: The Lion King as the proof of the great power of star-driven regional collaboration in bringing box office magic.