By Joginder Tuteja

After taking a slow start at the box office, '99' has expectedly grown with positive word of mouth.

Even though the film's promotion still leaves a lot to be desired, audiences have ensured that they patronise this Kunal Khemmu and Boman Irani enough to make it sail past the safety mark.

In it's first week at the box office, the film has grossed Rs. 7.24 crores. An impressive number indeed considering there was no buzz or hype created around the film and the IPL is also taking audiences away from films.

Confirm producers Anupam Mittal and Aditya Shastri from People Pictures, "Yes, the film has grossed 7.24 Cr across 436 screens. We are very happy with the way the film has been faring at the box office. With further word of mouth which is anyways quite strong, our film is bound to build on week on week."

Directed by Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK, '99' is a story inspired by real events 1999 and 2000. The film came on theaters last week amidst controversy surrounding around it's release in multiplexes.

Due to the ongoing standoff between the producers and the multiplexes, there was a mandate for all films not to arrive on national chain of multiplexes.

However, '99' dared to defy the mandate and brought the film across the country. The makers argued that the theme of '99' [match fixing and betting] was in line with the current season of IPL and the film's release strategy was planned keeping this fact in mind.

It was a good reason though for film buffs across India to have a smile back on their face as they could finally step into a multiplex to have their regular dose of movie watching.

Good reviews coupled with fantastic audience reactions only helped the cause due to which after a slow start, the film started picking up (if not exponentially but at least gradually) to find it's target audience patronising it well.

Krishna D.K. has the final word, "I am ecstatic with the way '99' has performed. The film has been working well with the target audience and word of mouth is fantastic. We will certainly have an even better second weekend when compared to the first. It's time for all to be 99'd!"