Rajinikanth’s Jailer 2 beats Chhava: All the records the Tamil blockbuster has broken

No Tamil film had ever reached the Rs 800-crore (Rs 8 billion) mark worldwide until Sunday. Jailer 2 got there on its 18th day in theatres, finishing the third weekend at Rs 808 crore gross globally. At 75, Rajinikanth now holds Tamil cinema’s biggest worldwide box-office record.

A record-breaking start and steady holds

Nelson Dilipkumar’s action sequel opened with Rs400 crore over an extended four-day weekend, one of the largest starts any Tamil release has had. The Navratri and Dussehra holidays kept weekday numbers high after that. It posted a solid second weekend, dipped midweek, and then picked up again over its third weekend.

Sunday added Rs 11.50 crore net in India, which took the third-weekend total to Rs 26.40 crore. Domestic earnings now stand at Rs 456 crore net, or Rs 533 crore gross. No other Tamil film has crossed Rs 450 crore net in India. Jailer 2 is also the only Tamil title to earn at least Rs 60 crore in each of four major markets: Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh–Telangana.

Strong overseas earnings

Rajinikanth’s large following in Southeast Asia, the Gulf and North America has pushed overseas collections to nearly $29 million. That is roughly level with Ranveer Singh’s Dhurandhar, and it is a big part of why the worldwide total has reached Rs 808 crore.

Two Bollywood records passed

Over the third weekend, Jailer 2 moved past Aamir Khan’s PK (Rs 769 crore) and Vicky Kaushal’s Chhaava (Rs 807 crore). Collections are expected to drop sharply on Monday and again when Ramayana opens later this week. Even so, the film still looks capable of reaching around Rs 850 crore. At that level it would also pass Kantara Chapter One and Stree 2.

Muthuvel Pandian returns

Rajinikanth has turned down sequels to many of his past hits, which makes this follow-up, produced by Sun Pictures, unusual. He returns as ‘Tiger’ Muthuvel Pandian, this time against a new set of villains. Ramya Krishnan, Yogi Babu, Mirnaa and Rithvik reprise their roles from the first film. New cast members include S. J. Suryah, Mithun Chakraborty, Suraj Venjaramoodu, Vidya Balan, Anna Rajan and Jatin Sarna. Hrithik Roshan, Mohanlal, Shiva Rajkumar and Jackie Shroff appear in cameos.