Rajinikanth’s Coolie, helmed by popular director Lokesh Kanagaraj, continues to be a ‘PowerHouse’ at the box office worldwide. On day 2, after its release, the Rajinikanth starrer made Rs. 53 crores at the Indian box office, while Day 1’s global collection crossed Rs. 151 crore according to Sun Pictures.
On Friday, Sun Pictures announced that Coolie had collected over Rs 151 crore worldwide and emerged as the first-ever Tamil film to hit the record. In Chennai alone Coolie made Rs. 65 crore at the box office on the first day and Rs. 53.5 crore on the second day. The theatres in Chennai saw 95 per cent occupancy on the first day and over 80 percent on the second day. The theatres are expected to run housefull during the weekend in Chennai and the B and C centres in Tamil Nadu. During the weekend Coolie is expected to gross over Rs. 200 crores worldwide.
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According to industry reports, Coolie had outperformed Rajinikanth’s earlier films like Vettaiyan, which did Rs. 31.5 crores, Jailer, which made Rs. 48.35 crores, and Petta, which earned Rs. 14 crore on the first day. Vettaiyan, directed by T.J. Gnanavel, and Jailer, directed by Nelson Dilipkumar, were some of the best from Rajini’s kitty in recent years. However Coolie had fallen short of the box office record made by Vijay’s Leo.
The release of Coolie, coinciding with the 50th year of Rajini’s cinema career, is double the reason for the frenzy among the ‘thalaivar’ fans. The flashbacks of a young Rajini (de-aged) in Coolie, with his signature moves, this time with a beedi, became one of the film’s talking points. The film reunites Rajinikanth with Sathyaraj after the 1986 film Mr. Bharath. With too many characters and unresolved plot turns, however, Coolie was seen as an underwhelming affair by many. But Rajinikanth’s screen presence and aura have die-hard fans going ga-ga.
