Pawan Kalyan's "Hari Hara Veera Mallu" has experienced a slowdown at the box office after a strong opening. The film, which also stars Bobby Deol as the primary antagonist, has grossed ₹60.36 crore in its first three days.
The period action drama, directed by Krish Jagarlamudi and A M Jyothi Krishna, had a thunderous start, earning ₹34.75 crore on its opening day, primarily from the Telugu version which contributed ₹34.65 crore. However, momentum waned on Friday, with earnings dropping to ₹8 crore across all languages. Saturday saw a further decline, indicating a decrease in audience interest over the weekend. According to early estimates, the film earned around ₹9.25 crore on its third day for all languages.
Despite the dip in collections, Saturday brought a marginal increase of 23.25% compared to Friday's earnings. Taking into account the ₹12.75 crore earned from premiere shows on Wednesday, the total collection reached ₹65.36 crore.
The regional breakdown reveals that the Telugu version is the dominant force, with marginal contributions from Hindi, Tamil, Kannada, and Malayalam versions. The Hindi version contributed only ₹0.19 crore over the first two days, indicating limited reach in North India.
Theatre occupancy rates also reflect the weekend slowdown. While Chennai maintained a healthy average of 40%, and Mahbubnagar recorded the highest at 41.5%, key markets like Hyderabad (25.5%), Vijayawada (17.5%), and Vizag (22%) showed lower engagement. Major metropolitan areas such as Mumbai and the National Capital Region (NCR) reported moderate occupancies at 20–24% and 21.5%, respectively.
"Hari Hara Veera Mallu" faced several delays after its announcement in 2020. Pawan Kalyan cited the pandemic and his political commitments as reasons for the delays. He also mentioned that Krish Jagarlamudi stepped back due to various reasons, and Rathnam and Jyothi Krishna took over the direction to ensure the film was completed.
Set in the 17th century, "Hari Hara Veera Mallu" tells the story of an outlaw who rises against oppression for the people of his land. The film is reportedly made on a budget of ₹300 crore. Besides Pawan Kalyan and Bobby Deol, the film features Nidhhi Agerwal, Nargis Fakhri, Nora Fatehi, and Satyaraj in pivotal roles, with music composed by M. M. Keeravani.
Despite the film's grand scale and Pawan Kalyan's performance, it has received mixed reactions from audiences and critics. Some reviews have pointed out a weak storyline, poor CG work, and a sluggish second half. One review notes that the film is inconsistent, with impressive production design and costumes but subpar VFX, especially in the second half. Another review mentions that the film has a decently engaging first half but suffers from a lacklustre second half with poor visual effects and a tedious climax.
Some critics felt that the film had the potential to create a fascinating folk hero but ended up being a misguided revisionist project. Others appreciated Pawan Kalyan's performance and M.M. Keeravani's music.
Pawan Kalyan's upcoming films include "Ustaad Bhagat Singh" and "They Call Him OG".
