"Thalaivaa" may not have released in its home-state Tamil Nadu, but the film is raking in good collections from other regions and overseas markets.
The Vijay starrer has performed extremely well in Kerala, where the film has minted ₹1.12 crore on the opening day from about 120 screens. The first weekend collection of the film is expected to have crossed ₹3 crore.
"Thalaivaa" is ruling the Kerala box office and faring better than several Malayalam releases and Bollywood film "Chennai Express".
In Andhra Pradesh, the Telugu dubbed version of the film titled "Anna" has made a thunderous opening raking in about ₹1 crore, thanks to no big Telugu film releases. Earlier, it was reported that Pawan Kalyan's "Atharintiki Daaredi" would be released on 9 August. But the film's producers pushed the release date owing to the Telangana issue. This has helped Vijay's film to get more screens, thus ensuring a good opening.
According to Behindwoods.com, "Anna" ("Thalaivaa" in Tamil), which was released in more than 270 screens, has earned approximately ₹2 crore to ₹2.25 crore in its debut weekend.
In Karnataka, "Thalaivaa" has a good opening despite big Kannada releases as well as Shah Rukh Khan's "Chennai Express." The Bangalore box office is witnessing good collections for the film. According to reports, the film has nearly 90 percent occupancy in Bangalore theatres. Interestingly, several fans from Tamil Nadu (where it has not released) are reportedly travelling to Bangalore to watch the film.
"Thalaivaa" is also doing good business in overseas markets, where the film is facing strong competition from "Chennai Express". Though the SRK starrer is leading the box office in overseas markets, "Thalaivaa" seems to have done decent business in those places.
Vijay's films generally do well in key markets like UK and US. In the UK, the film got off to an impressive start fetching ₹1.14 crore (£ 1,21,249) from 36 screens during the opening weekend. "Thalaivaa" also embarked on a solid start in the US. It has a good opening in some of the south-east Asian countries like Malaysia, Singapore and Sri Lanka.
However, the film's release still remains uncertain in Tamil Nadu, where Vijay has a massive fan base. The delay in the release has paved way for "Chennai Express" to rule the Chennai box office. After a long time, a Hindi film has dominated the Chennai box office. According to senior film journalist Sreedhar Pillai, "Chennai Express" made ₹4.5 crore in Tamil Nadu-Kerala in the first four days of its release including paid previews.
The action entertainer is on a record breaking spree not just in Shah Rukh's home ground, but also in southern states as well as overseas markets. This has affected "Thalaivaa" collections to some extent. Fans are now waiting for the film's release in Tamil Nadu. The delay has led to the sales of pirated versions of the film, which might largely affect the film's collections.
A press statement from Vijay's publicity office has requested the Tamil Nadu chief minister to ensure quick release of "Thalaivaa" in the state.
