In a big surprise to Bollywood circles, the Hindi version of NTR’s Devara gained momentum in North India circuit over the first weekend. As per trade reports, the Koratala Siva directional has seen an upward surge in the collections despite securing mixed reviews on Friday. Though the film initially started on a low-key note with dull occupancies on the morning of the first day, the numbers picked up by evening shows. On Saturday there is an uptick in the collections and Sunday emerged as the biggest day of the weekend, which is a good sign for a dubbed film.

By the end of Sunday, Devara collected a net of 26.5 Crores in the Hindi belt. After a decent start with 7.5 Crores net on Friday, the film went on to pull in 8.75 Crores due to increase in the walk-ins on Saturday. Gaining further strength at the box office, Devara touched double figure on Sunday with more than 10 Crores net in North India. Trade circles are expecting a good hold on weekends and there are chances for the film to touch the 60 Crore mark in the long run.

As Devara is NTR’s immediate outing after RRR which smashed numerous box office records all over the country, there are massive expectations about its performance in North India. Despite weak promotions and a flop director, Devara seems to be performing well in Bollywood. NTR’s stardom and the presence of Bollywood stars like Jahnvi Kapoor and Saif Ali Khan seem to have worked well to some extent.

With pan-India films like War 2 and Dragon lined up, there are good chances for NTR to consolidate his market in North India.