Mumbai, May 25 - The Indian box office was heavily tilted towards regional cinema during the May 22-24 weekend, with the strong debut Malayalam blockbuster Drishyam 3 and Marathi film Deool Band 2, as regional films comfortably outperformed Bollywood releases for the second weekend in a row. On top of that, Suriya's Karuppu continued to attract strong footfalls in the second weekend, also after the blockbuster opening frame.

Drishyam 3 Continues Franchise Legacy With Blockbuster Debut

The third instalment in director Jeethu Joseph's crime thriller franchise once again stayed true to the franchise legacy after an excellent opening weekend at the Indian box office. After the huge opening day upon its Thursday release, Drishyam 3 continued its phenomenal run across Kerala and other domestic markets over the weekend despite mixed word of mouth.

Drishyam 3 continued to benefit from the franchise value as Drishyam 3 is easily the biggest film series to come out of Malayalam cinema. It scored the second biggest opening day, followed by the second biggest weekend for a Malayalam trend, and advances for Monday indicate that the film is up for a solid run, especially in Kerala.

Karuppu Maintains Excellent Momentum

Suriya's fantasy action drama Karuppu remained the top choice at the Tamil Nadu box office for the second weekend in a row, after scoring one of the biggest 2nd weekend for a Tamil film. Backed by excellent audience response, the movie continued its successful theatrical journey and moved closer to new worldwide milestones.

During the weekend, RJ Balaji's directorial entered the 100 crores gross club in Tamil Nadu, making it the first instance for a Suriya-starrer, thus creating history for the actor. It also went past 200 crores gross at the global box office, which is also the first time for the Singam actor, as the film continues to reach new milestones.

Deool Band 2 Emerges As A Surprise Winner

The Marathi devotional drama Deool Band 2 sustained its superb trend at the box office with excellent occupancy in Maharashtra in the first weekend. Family audiences continued to support the film in large numbers, helping it dominate several centres despite competition from bigger releases. The film has now emerged as one of the breakout successes of the month.

Chand Mera Dil Underperforms As Pati Patni Aur Woh Do Holds Steady

Dharma Production's romantic drama, Chand Mera Dil, starring Lakshya and Ananya Panday, failed to generate the expected theatrical momentum. Despite a decent, visible promotional campaign, the film struggled against the dominance of regional cinema due to mixed word of mouth. Although there was some improvement over the weekend, the overall box office performance remained below expectations.

Ayushmann Khurrana's romantic-comedy entertainer, Pati Patni Aur Woh Do managed to maintain a decent hold on low levels during the weekend, especially in multiplex-heavy urban centres. While the overall collections remained low, the film managed to escape the free fall due to limited competition despite mixed word of mouth.