Box Office: No All-Time Grossing Tamil Record For Rajinikanth's Coolie

Chennai, August 20 - Superstar Rajinikanth and director Lokesh Kanagaraj's much-hyped collaboration Coolie ignited hope of emerging biggest Tamil grosser of all-time, after the record numbers during the extended Independence Day weekend. The film set social media abuzz and drew massive crowds, cementing Rajinikanth's dominance at the box office yet again.

But as they say, all that glitters is not gold, and that's what's happening with Coolie. Despite the spectacular start, the film is now showing signs of slowing down. With big drops during weekdays, it makes it almost impossible for the film to challenge the all-time Tamil box office record grosser, which is Rajinikanth's own hit 2 Point 0, which itself underperformed.



The gangster action drama, after the record weekend of 385 crores worldwide, has dropped heavily on the first two working days with a combined total of around 33-35 crores worldwide. After 6 days, the film's total collection stands at around 418-420 crores worldwide, which could have easily been around 450 crores with a positive reception, which it did not have.

Industry trackers, who were predicting Coolie to become the biggest Tamil grosser before release, suggest that it may wrap up its global run under 550 crore. It might stretch its total a little higher, but for that, the film has to show solid legs, which don't seem to be happening with the current trend. While 500 crores worldwide is still a big milestone, Coolie will fall short of the expectations, which is disappointing.

Trade analysts note that after its historic opening, collections in certain overseas territories and the Hindi belt have not been as strong as expected, which has capped its long-term potential. In North America, where the movie had a huge weekend, the weekdays' collection dropped drastically, even below Hrithik Roshan Jr. NTR's War, which had an underwhelming run there so far.



That said, Coolie has already achieved several milestones. It became the fastest Tamil film to cross the 100 crores, 200 crores, and 300 crores mark worldwide, apart from becoming the biggest Tamil opener and weekend grosser of all time. The movie also reinforced Rajinikanth's unmatched star power, as he continues to deliver films that not only perform in India but also create a stir in international markets.

In conclusion, Coolie, despite the early promises, will not create the history, everyone thought it would. While it will still be among the top 5 biggest Tamil grossers of all time, the movie will end up as a flop or an average affair at the box office. The onus is now on Rajinikanth's next, which is the highly-awaited Jailer 2, to do the unfinished job.

Stay tuned...