UK and US Box office performance of Endhiran
Shoaib
incredibleshoaib33@yahoo.co.uk
First and foremost let us get one thing clear; Enthiran / Robot is basically a Tamil film dot.
Comparing it’s dubbed version to a main stream Hindi film like Anjaana Anjaani is ridiculous.
We are all also aware of the fact that the reach and audience of Hindi Cinema is significantly greater than that of Tamil Cinema. Of late Hindi films have more and more catered towards their very lucrative and vibrant NRI market more so than the domestic Indian market.
Having said that let us first take a look at the official numbers of the UK Box office for films released in the weekend of Oct 1st to 3rd.
Those of you who might be interested to read the official numbers please go to www.ukfilmcouncil.org.uk
Enthiran was released on 30 screens in the UK and opened at the number 11 position (second highest ever opening ranking for a Tamil Film in the UK after Rajni’s Sivaji which opened at number 9) collected a sum of GBP 295,148 with a per screen collections of GBP 9,838 thus making it the number 1 movie of the weekend in the UK in terms of per screen collections. Rajni’s Sivaji was also the number 1 movie of the weekend it released in terms of per screen collections. In fact Sivaji’s per screen collections of GBP 14,000 plus was the highest for any movie in its opening weekend in the UK in 2007.
Now let us compare the opening weekend performance of Enthiran in the UK to that of the opening weekend collections of Anjaana Anjaani (also released on the same day) and Salman Khan’s Dabaang released three weeks prior, in the UK box office. What is important to remember here is that the reach and audience of Hindi Cinema in India and overseas is incomparable to the reach and audience of Tamil Cinema which is so much more limited and smaller.
Anjanna Anjaanie (which opened on the same day as Enthiran) was released on 54 screens (24 more than Enthiran) in the UK and opened at the number 15 position and collected a sum of GBP 183,989 with a per screen collection of GBP 3,407.
The much talked about Salman Khan starrer Dabangg on the other hand was released on 41 screens and opened at the number 12 position and collected GBP 332,673 with a per screen collection of GBP 8,114.
So despite the fact that a Tamil film has nowhere near the reach or audience of a Hindi film it is remarkable to note that Superstar Rajnikanth’s Endhiran has beaten both Anjaana Anjaani and Dabangg in their own strong-hold overseas.
Overall it is clear that a Tamil movie called Enthiran now has the honour of being the Indian movie with the largest opening weekend collections of all time. So step aside the Khans and the rest for Rajni has once again proved that he is without a shadow of doubt India’s number 1 Box office Superstar (even at age 61).
To say that the US and the UK are amongst the biggest and most lucrative markets for the Hindi film industry would be the understatement of the year. Now that we have seen the record breaking performance of Enthiran in its opening weekend in the UK, it is time to turn our attention to Enthiran’s performance in the US box office during it’s opening weekend.
Up until the release of Enthiran, SRK’s My Name Is Khan held the record for the film with the biggest opening for an Indian movie in the US. But as Enthiran has done with every other box office record, SRK’s status as the man who had the biggest opening weekend collections in the US for an Indian movie came to an end when Enthiran entered the land of the free and home of the brave. Prior to its release (Enthiran’s) all of us heard and read in utter astonishment as to how when advance bookings opened in the US all tickets for the first week were sold out within minutes. As a result it will come as no surprise to all of you that Enthiran has emerged as the runaway winner (crushing Anjaana Anjaani in the process as well) to become the Indian movie with the biggest opening weekend collections of all time in the US box office.
Enthiran (Tamil) was released on 64 screens and collected a whopping US$ 1,520,108 also giving it the number 1 position in terms of per screen collections (US$ 23,752) in its opening weekend in the US as well. Compare this to Anjaana Anjaanie which opening across 91 screens in the US and collected US$ 517,608 giving it a per screen collection of US$ 5,688. Enthiran dubbed in Hindi as Robot also had an outstanding opening in the US. It was released on 36 screens and collected US$ 481,680 giving it a per screen collection of US$ 13,380. So in short the number 1 and number 2 positions in terms of per screen collections in the weekend of Oct 1st at the US Box office belonged to India’s number 1 box office Superstar the impregnable and incomparable Rajnikanth’s Enthiran and its dubbed Hindi version Robot respectively. When taking into account both Enthiran and Robot, the film’s opening weekend collections in the US were US$ 2,001,788 from 100 screens giving it a per screen collection of US$ 20,017.
So in conclusion Enthiran had a tremendous opening weekend in both the US and the UK, the US opening being the biggest opening weekend of all time for any Indian film. It also emerged as the number 1 movie in terms of per screen collections in both the UK and the US with Enthiran’s dubbed Hindi version Robot coming in 2nd in the US. Do you think SRK or Amir Khan or Salman Khan can ever in their wildest imaginations have the dubbed Tamil version of one of their films emerge as a winner in even Tamil Nadu let alone the US box office? Never! Do you think any producer out there will have the guts to spend 175 Cr on a film with any other hero in India? I doubt it. Rajni’s star power and uncanny ability to light up the box office like no one has or will gave Kalanithi Maran the confidence to make India’s most expensive film. Within a week of its release India’s most expensive film has already recovered its cost and is heading for a lot more in the weeks to come. This is why Rajni is often referred to as a one man industry an industry called Rajniwood.
I urge everyone in the Tamil film industry and fans of Tamil films to stand up and give Superstar Rajnikanth a thundering ovation for he has once again made the World stand up and take notice of Tamil Cinema. People who live outside of South India (rest of India and the world at large) know that an industry called the Tamil Film industry exists only when Superstar Rajnikanth releases a film. His film releases become national and international news. No other Indian movie star get such coverage by the media when their films are being released. Despite the release date of Enthiran / Robot (October 1st) being sandwiched between the Ayodhya verdict and the start of the CWG, TV channels in India voluntarily gave Rajni and the release of his film so much of coverage and air time. This is something that no other movie star in India gets even when there is no other major news story being covered. All because of the phenomenon that is Rajnikanth.
No other Indian movie star other than Rajnikanth has that uncanny ability to capture the attention and imagination of all of India and the world prior to the release of their films. He has proved that he is the one and only Superstar in Indian Cinema with a frenzied fan following that is un-matched. At 61, Rajni still remains the unparalleled and undisputed king of the box office while his contemporaries (those who started out with him) in other industries like Bollywood and Tollywood faded away many years ago.
While other movie stars spend 20 hours a day of the weeks leading to the release of their films promoting their movies by giving interview after interview be it in the print media or on TV, journalists have to work very hard and camp out at airports to get a word or two from Rajni about his movie. Yet the name Rajnikanth alone is enough for tickets to be sold out for his movies.
Since 1999 Rajni has acted in 5 full length feature films (Kuselan was a cameo) and four of them have gone on to re-write box office history and take Tamil Cinema and Indian Cinema to unchartered territories.
You would have noticed that in my UK Box office analysis and US Box office analysis of Enthiran above I have not mentioned any other Tamil film or Tamil actor and that is because with all due respect to the other Tamil heroes there is no one in the Tamil film industry who even comes close to Rajni when it comes to box office performances and therefore worthy of comparison to the biggest Superstar in India. Hence, we need to compare Rajni’s films with Bollywood’s biggies whom he has comfortably beaten at the box office with Enthiran.
Tamil Cinema forever will be indebted to Superstar Rajnikanth because he takes Tamil Cinema to places and heights that others in the industry cannot even fathom.
Shoaib Mohamed from London
incredibleshoaib33@yahoo.co.uk
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