Rajinikanth-starrer Tamil film Annaatthe hit the theatres on Diwali, 4 November. Directed by Siva, the film opened to mixed responses but was able to perform brilliantly at the box office.
The film crossed the Rs 100 crore benchmark worldwide three days since its release and has collected Rs 186.58 crore as of day five. Trade analyst Manobala Vijayabalan took to Twitter to put down Annaatthe’s worldwide box office collection.
Meanwhile, the film’s performance in Tamil Nadu has been exceptional. According to Box Office India, Annaatthe, by collecting 53.50 crore nett in the state became the first film in the history of Tamil cinema to cross the 50 crore mark within the first three days.
Although other circuits are not doing well with a combined contribution of around 13-13.50 crore combined, this takes the three-day business across India to around 67 crores.
Annaatthe faced tough competition from Rohit Shetty’s Sooryavanshi and the Hollywood film Eternals but managed to dominate the state. The film is being carried by the home state of Tamil Nadu and it remains to be seen if this continues. The Box office in Tamil Nadu functions across some rough patches, but the film has been able to sustain them. The film didn’t do very well outside of the state, but managed to pull in decent numbers came from Chennai, Pondicherry, Vellore, Salem and Coimbatore as well.
The first-day figures from some theatres in Chennai were excellent and according to Box Office India, even Sooryavanshi couldn’t touch the figures from any theatre in India on day one. Although the Tamil film industry has a smaller market compared to the Hindi one, the box-office collections of some of their big releases have been astounding to say the least.
The 100% occupancy for cinema halls in the state of Tamil Nadu, backed by Rajinikanth’s tremendous star power, appeal, and fandom are jointly responsible for the film’s performance. The business in Tamil Nadu is the highest ever aided by the Diwali period. There are only a few films in Tamil Nadu to reach the 100 crore mark. Master, which reached 107 crores in January released with only 50% occupancy. Annaatthe has been Rajinikanth’s highest opening day performance when compared to his recent releases, even those before the pandemic.
Annaatthe (2021): Rs 34.92 Cr
Darbar (2020): Rs 20 Cr
Petta (2019): Rs 11.5 Cr
Kaala (2018): Rs 15.00 Cr
2.0 (2018): Rs 20 Cr
Annaatthe marks Rajinikanth's first Diwali release in 20 years and decidedly dominated the local circuit. It also has been the highest-grossing Tamil movie of 2021 at the US box office within just three days, running on more than 500 screens in the USA market.
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