With Bigil, Vijay becomes first Tamil actor to have three consecutive films make Rs 250 cr gross worldwide

Thalapathy Vijay’s _Bigil_ continues to set the cash registers ringing at the box office worldwide as it nears the second week of theatrical run on Thursday. The film directed by Atlee and produced by AGS Production, has dethroned Superstar Rajinikanth’s Petta , and Thala Ajith’s Viswasam to emerge as the highest-grossing Tamil title of 2019. Bigil, which also starred Lady Superstar Nayanthara as the female lead, has amassed a fantastic total of Rs 250 crore in worldwide ticket sales. In Tamil Nadu, Bigil topped the box office in its second frame with a total of Rs 16 crore. The film has sailed past the Rs 120 crore gross mark in the state and is inching towards the Rs 125 crore benchmark. Bigil marks Vijay’s third consecutive century grosser in the state after Mersal and Sarkar in 2017 and 2018. Vijay is now the first Tamil actor to score three back to back century grossers in TN and is also the first Tamil actor to achieve three consecutive double century grossers worldwide. [caption id=“attachment_7539641” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] Vijay in a still from Bigil[/caption] While Bigil is the first Tamil film to sprint past the Rs 250 crore gross mark globally in 2019, the big-budget sports drama is yet to supplant the earnings of Ajith’s Viswasam in Tamil Nadu. Trade pundits opine that Bigil will have to sustain well in its third week in Tamil Nadu to achieve the breakeven mark, which is pegged upwards of Rs 140 crore. The movie has already whistled past the Rs 150 crore gross mark in the domestic market. Bigil has also accrued a solid total of more than Rs 100 crore from non-Tamil Nadu markets alone, making it Vijay’s third consecutive outing after Mersal, and Sarkar. Rajinikanth is the only actor in Tamil cinema to have four century grossers from non-Tamil Nadu markets, including 2.0, Kabali, Petta, and Enthiran. On Tuesday, Bigil toppled the lifetime earnings of Megastar Chiranjeevi’s magnum opus Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy to become the second top-earning south Indian film of 2019. Bigil is the ninth south Indian movie to touch the Rs 250 crore in worldwide theatrical revenue and second project of the year after Prabhas’ multi-lingual action thriller Saaho. While most of Vijay’s contemporaries are still struggling to find a strong foothold in overseas markets, he’s been consistently delivering substantial numbers in foreign territories. Bigil has raced past the $10 million mark in offshore regions, making it the third consecutive film of the actor to do so after Mersal, and Sarkar. In 12 days, Bigil has earned nearly Rs 80 crore from foreign takings alone and is currently the top-earning south Indian title in overseas, besting the likes of Petta, and Saaho. Bigil has outgrossed the lifetime total of Mersal (A$ 515K) in Australia, with the running total standing at A$ 519,892. The film has also toppled Mersal’s admissions count in France to become Vijay’s all-time best-performing film ever with more than 32,250 footfalls. Bigil is also the best-performing south Indian movie of all-time in France. However, the lion’s share of the film’s overseas earnings has come from the UAE-GCC region and Malaysia, where it has pulled in $2.54 million and $2.77 million, respectively. Now, Bigil is the highest-grossing Tamil film of 2019 in France, Norway, the UK, UAE-GCC, Sri Lanka, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, and Singapore. The Vijay-starrer also has set foot into uncharted territories like Egypt and Jordan, making it the first Tamil movie to attain the feat. Another Diwali release, Kaithi , starring Karthi in the lead role and directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj, is also doing really well at the box-office in TN and abroad. The film is on the brink of becoming the highest-grossing title of Karthi ever, beating his previous best, Kadaikutty Singam directed by Pandiraj. The domestic total of the movie is estimated to be Rs 55 crore, and the overseas gross is said to be Rs 12 crore. Produced by SR Prabhu’s Dream Warrior Pictures, Kaithi has already entered the profit zone in all territories for its stakeholders.