Vada Chennai becomes Dhanush's highest-grossing film; Vijay Sethupathi's 96 earns Rs 50 Cr worldwide

With new releases such as Jarugandi and Genius scoring negligible numbers at the Tamil Nadu box-office, the holdovers completely dominated the scene. Dhanush’s Vada Chennai, which hit theaters on 17 October for the Ayudha Pooja weekend, continues to rake in the moolah in its key territories in the second weekend. The film has sailed past the Rs 50 Cr mark from worldwide theatrical revenue with nearly 67% of it accounting from Tamil Nadu.

The first installment of the three-part series, Vada Chennai marked the third successive collaboration of Vetrimaaran and Dhanush after Pollathavan and the multiple national award-winning movie Aadukalam. The film is also doing well in the USA, Karnataka, and Kerala, besides the home run and has now dethroned Thala Ajith’s Billa 2 to become the highest-grossing A-rated Tamil film of all-time. [caption id=“attachment_5460781” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  A still from Vada Chennai. Image via Twitter/@sridevisreedhar[/caption] Vada Chennai has also surpassed Dhanush’s blockbuster Velai Illa Pattathari to emerge as the highest-grossing film of his career. In the USA, the Vetrimaaran directorial has grossed $360K so far and is currently the sixth-highest-earning Tamil movie of 2018, behind such films as Kaala, Chekka Chivantha Vaanam, Thaanaa Serndha Koottam, 96, and Vishwaroopam 2.  In TN, the film has earned Rs 36 Cr from 12 days and has also topped the Chennai city box-office for the second consecutive time for the weekend ending 28 October. The 12-day Chennai city gross of the film stands at Rs 4.65 Cr and will gradually enter the Rs 5 Cr club soon. Another Ayudha Pooja festival release, Sandakozhi 2, has collected decent numbers from the southern districts of Tamil Nadu with a total 11-day gross of the state standing at Rs 26.9 Cr. The film directed by Lingusamy has earned Rs 3.14 Cr from Chennai city alone in 11 days. It continued its second spot at the Chennai city box-office for the weekend ending 28 October. Vishnu Vishal’s spine-chilling psychological thriller Ratsasan has become his highest-grossing film, taking home earnings of Rs 18 Cr from Tamil Nadu alone. In Karnataka, the film is declared a blockbuster with a cumulative gross of around Rs 92 lakhs in 24 days. The Chennai city gross of the film stands at Rs 2.85 Cr for 24 days. The Ramkumar-directed movie continued its dominance in the city box-office by occupying the third position in the chart in its fourth frame. [caption id=“attachment_5351831” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  A still from 96. Image via Twitter[/caption] Vijay Sethupathi, Trisha’s blockbuster romance drama 96 has arched over the Rs 50 Cr mark worldwide and has successfully completed 25 days in a decent number of screens in Tamil Nadu. The movie has grossed Rs 5.14 Cr from 25 days in Chennai alone and has become the seventh Tamil film to touch the Rs 5 Cr mark in the city after Thaanaa Serndha Koottam, Irumbu Thirai, Kaala, Tik Tik Tik, Kadaikutty Singam and Kolamaavu Kokila. In Kerala, where the film has been embraced with open arms, 96 has accrued a total of Rs 7.02 Cr with a theatrical share of Rs 2.67 Cr. It must be noted that the film was acquired for Rs 50 lakhs in Kerala including the print and publicity costs. In the US, the film has eclipsed the earnings of Vishwaroopam 2 ($401K) with its total of $406K. Junior NTR’s Aravinda Sametha has witnessed a huge dip in its third weekend, but the film has already covered major ground at the ticket window by amassing a total of Rs 150 Cr worldwide with a theatrical share of Rs 92 Cr. It is currently the highest-grossing film of Jr NTR. In Mollywood, Nivin Pauly’s period magnum-opus Kayamkulam Kochunni has garnered a worldwide total of Rs 59.4 Cr with nearly 50% of the revenue coming from Kerala in 18 days. The film has now entered its third week in Kerala with nearly 120 screens and more than 500 shows per day. The overseas gross of the film has vaulted over the $3 million mark ($3.05 million; Rs 22.42 Cr) with the lion’s share of revenue from the UAE-GCC territory at Rs 17.8 Cr. The Rosshan Andrrews directorial, which stars Mohanlal and Priya Anand in important roles, is now the fourth highest-earning Malayalam film stateside with a gross of $185,348 (Rs 1.36 Cr). Taking the worldwide revenue of Rs 59.4 Cr into account, Kayamkulam Kochuni has supplanted Ennu Ninte Moideen to become the fourth highest-grossing Malayalam film of all-time globally after Pulimurugan, Premam, and Drishyam.