Director Lokesh Kanagaraj has plenty to celebrate with the box office performance of his latest film, Coolie.
What's Happening
- Coolie has become Rajinikanth's most successful opening in a career that spans over five decades.
- After just two days in theatres, the film has collected Rs 118 crore (India nett), according to industry tracker Sacnilk.
- Occupancy rates for the film have remained strong. Morning and afternoon shows registered 63.86% and 86.25%, while the evening and night shows maintained high numbers at 86.37% and 86.33%, respectively.
- The film had the highest number of screenings in Chennai (721 shows) and Bengaluru (752 shows), with occupancy rates exceeding 80% in both cities.
- In Chennai specifically, the film hit a peak occupancy of 96.50%.
- Its worldwide collection reached Rs 170 crore on Day 1 alone and has now surpassed Rs 200 crore after its second day in India. It is expected to breach the Rs 300 crore mark soon.
Background
If current trends continue, Coolie could soon surpass the lifetime earnings of Rajinikanth's last film, Vettaiyan, which was directed by TJ Gnanavel and made Rs 146.89 crore during its full theatrical run.
With Coolie already just Rs 26 crore short of that mark, it is expected to cross it on Day 3.
The film is also expected to overtake other recent big releases such as Good Bad Ugly (Rs 180 crore) and the pan-India film L2: Empuraan, starring Mohanlal and Prithviraj Sukumaran.
Rajinikanth's last blockbuster, Jailer (directed by Nelson Dilipkumar), took three days to cross the Rs 100 crore mark. In comparison, Coolie achieved that milestone in just two days.
Coolie is also facing direct competition at the box office from War 2, starring Hrithik Roshan and Jr NTR. War 2 is performing steadily and is now just Rs 10 crore behind Coolie in India net collections.
Directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj, Coolie features a star-studded cast including Rajinikanth, Nagarjuna Akkineni, Aamir Khan, Soubin Shahir, Upendra, Shruti Haasan, and Sathyaraj.
