Dangal is turning out to be the highest earning film in Tamil Nadu and Kerala

Aamir Khan has walked away with the Christmas box-office. His film Dangal is a worldwide super hit, with the second biggest opening of the year after Salman Khan’s Sultan. In its opening weekend, Dangal has netted an astounding Rs 106. 95 crore at the India domestic box-office plus another $9 million (Rs 60.99 cr) from overseas.  It has blockbuster written all over with a worldwide total of Rs 167.94 cr — phenomenal by any yardstick. Also read: Aamir Khan wins Dangal: Jingoism loses to Indians who don't tolerate intolerance However, the bigger news is that Dangal is a super hit in Tamil Nadu and Kerala, which is the smallest territory for Hindi films in India. The dubbed Tamil version (153 screens) released along with the Hindi original (24 screens in Tamil Nadu) has penetrated down to Tamil Nadu’s lucrative B and C markets. In its opening weekend, Dangal has netted approximately Rs 3.27 crore in three days from Tamil Nadu and another Rs 2.10 Crore approximately from Kerala (only Hindi version). [caption id=“attachment_3151832” align=“alignleft” width=“825”]  Aamir Khan. Facebook photo[/caption] Dangal has been able to overcome the demonetisation effect at the Tamil box-office. The trade was shocked when the film opened better than Tamil Christmas releases: Vishal’s Kaththi Sandai and Sasikumar’s Balle Velaiya Thevaa. At the Chennai box office, the film beat Kaththi Sandai by a mile mainly due to big screens and more shows allotted to the Aamir Khan film by multiplex operators. What is surprising is that the Tamil version has done extremely well in small towns like Tiruvanamalai, Ambur and few other places. S Pictures’ Srinivasan, an exhibitor who controls the maximum screens in north and south Arcot in Vellore, said, “Dangal in Tamil is doing very well and we aren’t feeling the demonetisation effect for the past few weeks. The Tamil version is being liked by female audiences for its women empowerment message, and people have been seen clapping during the climax.” Chrompet Vetri Theatre in the suburbs of Chennai started with two shows of Dangal in small screens, but from Monday four shows have been playing on the big screen. The film has been rock steady throughout Tamil Nadu. Tamil film director and actor Parthipen has come out with a new promotional ad for his upcoming film Koddita Idanangalai Nirappuga, which says his film “will come between #Dangal and #Pongal”! In Kerala due to a standoff between producers and exhibitors over revenue sharing, there were no Malayalam Christmas releases. Dangal cashed in on this with its huge release and could potentially gross Rs 50 lakhs in two days from Ernakulam multiplexes. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who is an avid film-goer, is likely to watch Dangal shortly. Trade sources have confirmed that Dangal is going to be the highest collecting Hindi film in Tamil Nadu and Kerala, as it has already broken SRK’s Chennai Express and Salman Khan’s Sultan collections in four days.