Imaikkaa Nodigal leads TN box-office for second consecutive weekend; Geetha Govindam continues its rise

With big projects like Sivakarthikeyan’s Seema Raja, Samantha Ruth Prabhu’s women-centric film U-Turn and Naga Chaitanya’s Shailaja Alludu Reddy slated to release on 13 September for the Ganesh Chaturthi weekend in Tamil and Telugu, no popular movies hit the theaters on 7 September in Kollywood except for Vanjagar Ulagam, which opened to mixed reviews from critics. In Telugu, a slew of indie projects such as Care of Kancharapalam, Manu and Silly Fellows released along with a handful of lesser-known films such as Anu Vamsi Katha, Annadaatha Sukheebhava, and Premaku Raincheck.  [caption id=“attachment_4609181” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Atharvaa, Nayanthara and Anurag Kashyap in a poster of Imaikkaa Nodigal. Image via Twitter[/caption] Holdover blockbusters such as Vijay Deverakonda’s Geetha Govindam, Nayanthara’s Imaikkaa Nodigal, and Kolamaavu Kokila continued to rule the roost in both Tollywood and Kollywood before the next set of festival releases take over the screens this week from Thursday. In Tamil Nadu, Imaikkaa Nodigal, which released on 31 August worldwide (it had only night shows on 30 August due to the last-minute financial quagmire), comfortably topped the box-office for the second consecutive weekend ending 9 September with estimated revenue of Rs 5.2 cr. The English horror thriller The Nun, which opened to overwhelming pre-release buzz, seized the second place in TN box-office. In 10 days, Imaikkaa Nodigal has raked in Rs 21.8 cr in Tamil Nadu, making it the second consecutive film of Nayanthara after Kolamaavu Kokila, which released on 17 August , to score Rs 20+ cr gross in the state.

With two profitable ventures in a span of three weeks and a growing box-office prowess, Nayanthara has once again cemented her position as the numero-uno actress in Tamil.

In Chennai city, Imaikkaa Nodigal took home earnings of Rs 4.04 cr until the second weekend. The film, which has Nayanthara locking horns with ace Bollywood filmmaker Anurag Kashyap, topped the Chennai city box office for the weekend ending 9 September with an excellent gross of Rs 1.18 Cr. The Ajay Gnanamuthu-directed film was followed by The Nun, which landed a fantastic Rs 90 lakh opening, and Kolamaavu Kokila at second and third spots respectively. It must be noted that Kolamaavu Kokila, directed by Nelson and produced by Lyca, grossed Rs 3.89 cr at the end of its second weekend. Now, Nayanthara has outperformed her previous best film in the Chennai city with Imaikkaa Nodigal, which has collected nearly Rs 15 lakh more despite a strong contender in The Nun, which dominated multiplexes. Kolamaavu Kokila, where Nayanthara played the role of a drug peddler, has entered its 25th day in Tamil Nadu, which is an incredibly rare feat nowadays and a distinctive one for a heroine-led project. The film has touched the Rs 30 Cr gross mark in the state, with the Chennai city earnings at Rs 5.25 Cr. Kolamaavu Kokila has become the eighth film in 2018 to breach the Rs 5 Cr mark in Chennai city after Thaanaa Serndha Koottam, Padmaavat, Avengers Infinity War, Irumbu Thirai, Kaala, Tik Tik Tik and Kadaikutty Singam. [caption id=“attachment_4868771” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  A still from Geetha Govindam/Image from YouTube.[/caption] In Andhra Pradesh and Nizam territories, Vijay Deverakonda’s Geetha Govindam is still on the top of the throne for the fourth consecutive weekend, substantiating its position as one of the biggest blockbusters of all-time in Tollywood. The film has amassed a whopping Rs 120 Cr in 26 days worldwide with a share of Rs 66 Cr. The movie directed by Parasuram and produced by GA2 Pictures is still running in 410 centers worldwide even after completing 25 days. While Silly Fellows managed to reasonably hold the single screens during the weekend and the Rana Daggubati-produced Care of Kancharapalem did well in multiplexes, thanks to extremely good word-of-mouth, Geetha Govindam quietly continued to dominate the box-office by emerging on top once again. Geetha Govindam, which stars Rashmika Mandanna as the lead heroine, is now the third highest-grossing Telugu film of 2018 after Ram Charan’s Rangasthalam and Mahesh Babu’s Bharat Ane Nenu. In the USA, the film has earned an impressive total of $2.441 million in four weeks, and it may edge past Mega Star Chiranjeevi’s Khaidi No 150 gross of $2.447 million in the upcoming days.