Bigil earns Rs 140 crore in pre-release business; Asuran tops Tamil Nadu box office for three consecutive weekends

Asuran, which became Dhanush's highest grossing title in Tamil Nadu with a cumulative total of Rs 38.5 crore last week, has topped the box office in the state for the third consecutive weekend. The film, directed by Vetrimaaran and produced by Kalaipuli S Thanu's V Creations, topped the Chennai city box office in its third frame. The cumulative running total of Asuran in Tamil Nadu is estimated to be Rs 45 crore, including the third weekend gross of Rs 4.31 crore.

Vijay in a still from Bigil. YouTube

Despite stiff competition from Sivakarthikeyan's Namma Veettu Pillai and Hrithik Roshan's War, Asuran continues to mint money at the box office. It has garnered praises from stars across the country, including Kamal Haasan, Mahesh Babu and Karan Johar. While Mahesh called the film "raw, real and intense", Karan lauded Vetrimaaran's "craft and story telling" and Dhanush's performance.

Asuran has raked in Rs 5.39 crore within 17 days in Chennai alone, nearing Namma Veettu Pillai's 24 day total (Rs 5.46 crore). Joker, Namma Veettu Pillai, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, and War occupied the second, third, fourth, and fifth spots at the Chennai box office over 18-20 October.

Namma Veettu Pillai has accrued a running total of Rs 56 crore in Tamil Nadu, including the fourth weekend gross of Rs 89 lakhs. With Bigil and Kaithi set to storm screens from 25 October, both Asuran and Namma Veettu Pillai will be removed to make way for the festival releases. In its third weekend at the Tamil Nadu box office, Joaquin Phoenix's Joker came in at the third position, with a substantial running total of Rs 7 crore. War has been declared a blockbuster after raking in Rs 6.73 crore.

Mammootty's Malayalam feature, Ganagandharvan, has been declared a disaster at the box office, with a worldwide gross of Rs 8.5 crore. Directed by Ramesh Pisharody, which he co-wrote with Hari P Nair saw Mammootty as a ganamela singer named Kalasadhan Ullas. The final global theatrical share of the film is estimated to be Rs 3.75 crore and the recovery is less than 60 percent. Meanwhile, director Lijo Jose Pellissery's Jallikattu has earned a fantastic running total of Rs 10 crore. The thrilled has received rave reviews from across the board.

The most-anticipated South Indian film of this week, Bigil, has got the trade and the exhibitors quite excited. With just three more days left for its release, tickets for the Vijay and Nayanthara-starrer are selling like hotcakes. Bigil has fetched the second best pre-release business ever for a Tamil film with over Rs 210 crore, including ancillary revenues such as digital, satellite, audio, and branding rights. The global pre-release theatrical business is around Rs 140 crore, said to be the third-highest after Rajinikanth's 2.0 and Kabali.

The Tamil Nadu rights for Bigil were secured by Screen Scene for Rs 72 crore. The company sold individual territories to various distributors, taking the combined pre-release economics in the state to Rs 84 crore. Vijay is the only Tamil actor to have two consecutive Rs 70 crore share (Mersal, Sarkar) in Tamil Nadu and he will be aiming to break the record set by Ajith's Viswasam (Rs 134 crore lifetime total) for Diwali.