Enthiran was released on 30 screens in the UK and
opened at the number 11 position (second highest ever
opening ranking for a Tamil Film in the UK after Rajni’s
Sivaji which opened at number 9) and collected a sum
of GBP 295,148 with a per screen collections of GBP
9,838, thus making it the number 1 movie of the weekend
in the UK in terms of per screen collections. Rajni’s
Sivaji was also the number 1 movie of the weekend
it released in terms of per screen collections. In
fact Sivaji’s per screen collections of GBP
14,000 plus was the highest for any movie in its opening
weekend in the UK in 2007.
Now let us compare the opening weekend performance
of Enthiran in the UK to that of the opening weekend
collections of Anjaana Anjaani (also released on the
same day) and Salman Khan’s Dabaang released
three weeks prior, in the UK box office. What is important
to remember here is that the reach and audience of
Hindi Cinema in India and overseas is incomparable
to the reach and audience of Tamil Cinema which is
so much more limited and smaller.
Anjanna Anjaanie (which opened on the same day as
Enthiran) was released on 54 screens (24 more than
Enthiran) in the UK and opened at the number 15 position
and collected a sum of GBP 183,989 with a per screen
collection of GBP 3,407.
The much talked about Salman Khan starrer Dabangg
on the other hand was released on 41 screens and opened
at the number 12 position and collected GBP 332,673
with a per screen collection of GBP 8,114.
So despite the fact that a Tamil film has nowhere
near the reach or audience of a Hindi film it is remarkable
to note that Superstar Rajnikanth’s Endhiran
has beaten both Anjaana Anjaani and Dabangg in their
own strong-hold overseas.
Enthiran also opened to packed houses amidst much
fanfare in the Nothern cities as well, something which
big Bollywood heroes will not even come close to achieving
with their films in the South of India.
Overall it is clear that a Tamil movie called Enthiran
now has the honour of being the Indian movie with
the largest opening weekend collections of all time.
So step aside the Khans and the rest for Rajni has
once again proved that he is without a shadow of doubt
India’s number 1 Box office Superstar (even
at age 61).
I will follow up with a US Box office report when
the official numbers are released.
Shoaib Mohamed,
London
Incredibleshoaib33@yahoo.o.uk
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