Darbar sails past Rs 150 cr in worldwide theatrical sales; overseas revenue touches Rs 50 cr mark

Though Tamil superstar Rajinikanth’s latest mass action entertainer Darbar, in which he plays a cop who operates in Mumbai, opened to mixed reviews on 9 January, the film has kept the box office really busy all over the world across all the release centers. [caption id=“attachment_7840481” align=“alignnone” width=“1000”]  Rajinikanth in a still from Darbar. Twitter[/caption] The makers (Lyca Productions) have come out with an official poster stating the film has grossed Rs 150 crore worldwide in its extended opening weekend of four days. This includes the Telugu and Hindi dubbed versions too. Along with the Tamil version, the Telugu version is also putting in fair numbers while the Hindi dubbed version has performed underwhelmingly. The worldwide opening gross of Darbar is a very good figure, and proves Rajinikanth still has the craze and mass popularity at the age of 69. Trade experts predict the full potential of the film will be decided on the footfalls registered for the next few days, where the holiday season will make people throng to theaters across the state. With various speculations and fervent social media trolls doing the rounds regarding the collection of the film, Lyca came up with the ‘150-crore-worldwide-collections’ poster to tone down the tension a wee bit. An approximate breakup of the four-day opening weekend gross collection of Darbar is as follows: Tamil Nadu: Rs 47 crore Andhra Pradesh and Telangana: Rs 12.5 crore Karnataka: Rs 12.05 crore Kerala: Rs 6.2 crore

North India: Rs 4 crore Overseas: Rs 50+ crore Chennai city has, as usual, been an outperforming zone for Rajinikanth, with Darbar too. A few more overseas territories are yet to release the box office numbers officially. The film has already grossed more than Rs 8 crore in Chennai city, with a whopping Rs 8.14 crore in five days. Last year, Rajinikanth’s Pongal release Petta emerged as the highest-grossing film in Chennai, with a fabulous lifetime gross of Rs 15.68 crore. Darbar has already gotten off to a great start this year, and looks to cross more milestone marks in the coming weeks. But outside Chennai city, Chengalpet, and Coimbatore, the opening of Darbar has been just about decent to average in the southern regions of Tamil Nadu.

The long run in Tamil Nadu will also depend on the fortunes of Dhanush’s Pongal release  _Pattas,_  which opens in theaters on Wednesday. The show count of Darbar will definitely be reduced slightly as theater owners would accommodate Pattas in their scheduling.

Pattas has to recover about a Rs-17-crore theatrical share in Tamil Nadu to emerge as a successful outing for the buyers. It has good pre-release buzz, thanks to well-received songs and, in general, the positive vibe surrounding Dhanush, director Durai Senthil Kumar, and producer Sathya Jyothi Films, who delivered industry hit Viswasam with Ajith and director Siva on Pongal 2019. Like most Rajinikanth films, Darbar is set to emerge a profitable venture in Karnataka, with a good chunk of the theatrical investment (more than 70 percent) already recovered in the opening four days. Kerala is a worrisome territory, and the buyers there are staring at a substantial loss. The Telugu states also do not look promising for Darbar as the two Telugu releases,  _Sarileru Neekevvaru_  and  Ala Vaikunthapurramulo o are setting the box office on fire. Darbar is also facing stiff competition in the overseas space (in significant markets like the US and Australia) from these two Telugu films, with Ala Vaikunthapurramulo, in particular, looking at a really handsome lifetime overseas gross total. Petta eventually finished with a worldwide gross of about Rs 220 crore, with Tamil Nadu contributing around Rs 115 crore. The film had a terrific long run in the state along with Viswasam, which released simultaneously. Whether Darbar can reach those levels remains to be seen. The film has covered decent ground in its opening weekend, but the mixed word-of-mouth may hamper its prospects in the long run.