Bigil, Petta, Viswasam, Kanchana 3, Nerkonda Paarvai, Kaithi power Kollywood's theatrical takings in 2019 to Rs 1000 cr

2019 has been a memorable year for Tamil cinema. Like every other year, there has been a consistent flow of good films starting from the Pongal festival in January, and December also promises to deliver a few more quality films. What's most heartening about this year has been the commercial viability of the industry. Six major films have grossed more than Rs 100 crore each in worldwide theatrical takings, with Thalapathy Vijay's Bigil leading the way.

(From left to right) Posters of Petta, Bigil and Viswasam. Images from Twitter

Karthi's Kaithi is the most unexpected entrant in this century club and has emerged as the actor's career-best and of course, his first. There have been few high profile failures too, but the overall mood is one of optimism, thanks to the big hits that the industry has delivered. The six films in the century grossers club are Superstar Rajinikanth's Petta, Thala Ajith's Viswasam, Nerkonda Paarvai, Raghava Lawrence's Kanchana 3, Bigil and Kaithi. The cumulative total worldwide theatrical gross from these six films is estimated to be more than Rs 1000 crore, and this is a statistic that is gaining a lot of attention currently in Kollywood trade circles. In the coming weeks, we have Dhanush's Enai Noki Paayum Thota, Sivakarthikeyan's Hero, and Karthi, Jyotika-starrer Thambi, which have the potential to break into this elite list.

The approximate breakup of this Rs 1000 cr worldwide theatrical gross is as follows:

Bigil - Rs 285+ cr

Petta - Rs 225+ cr

Viswasam - Rs 185+ cr

Kanchana 3 - Rs 130 cr

Nerkonda Paarvai - Rs 108 cr

Kaithi - Rs 105 cr

As we can see, the top three heroes of the industry - Vijay, Rajinikanth, and Ajith have accounted for the lion's share of the collections. Ajith led the way with two films in totally diverse genres and delivered his career-best grosser with the Pongal mega-blockbuster Viswasam, despite competing with a Rajinikanth-starrer in Petta. That he also managed to notch up a century grosser with the serious and sensitive courtroom drama, Nerkonda Paarvai is even more remarkable.

Rajinikanth proved his box office pull for the umpteenth time with Petta helmed by filmmaker Karthik Subbaraj. It was a quick followup to the successful 2.0, which released in November 2018. Petta showed that the Rajini brand of stylish mass masala entertainers will always have a market. The film grossed more than Rs 115 crore in Tamil Nadu (TN) alone with the other release markets also putting in good numbers.

Vijay reiterated his status as the numero uno hero of Kollywood with his Diwali blockbuster Bigil. Though the film received mixed reviews, it continued to grow from strength to strength at the box office. The opening was understandably thunderous all over the globe. That the film has managed to sustain its run and pull in close to Rs145 cr in TN, with a theatrical share of more than Rs 80 crore, is quite mind-boggling. We get to see the sheer star power of Vijay and also the brand value of director Atlee. Like Viswasam, Bigil has also struck a strong chord with the ladies and family audiences, thereby resulting in such huge numbers in the home state. Bigil is the third successive instance of a Vijay starrer grossing more than Rs 250 crore globally. His inevitable entry to the Rs 300 crore club can be expected very soon, as we had reported earlier.

When the top guns of any industry are in prime form, you can expect such a glorious report card. 2020 promises to take this year's momentum even further. Rajinikanth would be having two releases in Darbar and Thalaivar 168 directed by Siva. Thalapathy 64 will be the big summer attraction while Ajith's Valimai is expected on or before Diwali. Vijay may spring a surprise and also have two releases, like how he did in 2017 with Bairavaa and Mersal. When the likes of Vijay, Rajini, and Ajith have two releases each in a calendar year, all the stakeholders of the industry are likely to sport a gleeful smile as the box office will invariably boom with their films.

Apart from the films of these three, the likes of Soorarai Pottru and Chiyaan Vikram 58 (directed by Ajay Gnanamuthu) also have the potential to strike gold at the ticket window next year. Consistent current-gen stars like Dhanush, Sivakarthikeyan, Karthi, and Jayam Ravi are also most likely to generate good numbers with their films.