Abhishek Nama's ambitious mythological fantasy, Nagabandham, concluded its first week at the box office with a steady hold on its seventh day. The film, starring Virat Karrna and Nabha Natesh, collected an estimated Rs 1.28 crore net across India on its first Thursday, according to early trade estimates.
This marks a marginal drop from its Day 6 collection, indicating that the film has found a stable footing during the weekdays. The film's total India net collection now stands at approximately Rs 13.61 crore after seven days. The film maintained an overall occupancy of 15.8% on Day 7, with around 2,850 shows across the country.
State-wise, the film's performance remained consistent with Andhra Pradesh and Telangana contributing the bulk of the collections, followed by Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. However, the Hindi dubbed version has underperformed significantly, with first week collections reported at just Rs 2.00 crore across circuits.
Directed by Abhishek Nama, who also penned the story and screenplay, Nagabandham is produced by Kishore Annapureddy and Nishitha Nagireddy under the banners of NIK Studios and Abhishek Pictures. The film features an ensemble cast including Virat Karrna in a dual role as Rudra and Shiva, Nabha Natesh and Iswarya Menon as the female leads, with Jagapathi Babu, Mahesh Manjrekar, Murali Sharma, and Rishabh Sawhney playing pivotal roles. The cinematography is handled by Soundar Rajan S, with editing by RC Pranav, and music composed by Junaid Kumar and Abhe.
Despite the visual spectacle and grand production values, the film received mixed to negative reviews from critics upon its initial release, which impacted its early box-office performance. However, reports suggest that the makers have released a revised version that is around 15 minutes shorter, which has received a positive response from audiences and helped improve its theatrical run.
On the global stage, Nagabandham has crossed the Rs 35 crore mark in its first week, with the revised version helping the film gain stronger audience support. With a reported budget of Rs 80-100 crore, the film has an uphill battle to recover its massive theatrical investment given the mixed word-of-mouth and the underperformance of the Hindi version.