Update: Vijay's "Kaththi" Takes Record Openings on First Day.
Vijay's upcoming film "Kaththi" is gearing up for a grand release on Wednesday (22 October) amid huge expectations from the actor's fans.
"Kaththi" marks the second-time collaboration of Vijay-Murugadoss after their 2012 film "Thuppakki". The Vijay starrer is carrying positive buzz, thanks to the impressive trailer and the songs, which received fantastic responses from the fans.
For the last few days, there had been speculations as to whether the film will hit the screens for Diwali on 22 October. The film had landed in a controversy involving some Tamil outfits who had protested against the release of the film as they alleged that the producers were linked to Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
On Tuesday, an official press statement from Vijay confirmed that the issue has been resolved amicably as the producers agreed to remove their company name Lyca from the film's advertisements. Following the clarification, theatre owners have given a green signal for the film's release and have also commenced the advance booking for the film.
"Kaththi" will likely release in around 2,000 across the world. The film will reportedly be having a record release in key markets like Kerala, the US, UK and Malaysia. It will also be released in around 450 screens in Tamil Nadu and will have a good screen count in foreign markets like Canada and France.
Despite clashing with "Poojai" (22 October release) and "Happy New Year" (24 October release), "Kaththi" is likely to take big openings at the Tamil Nadu box office.
The film is expected to beat the first day collections of Ajith's "Veeram" and Vijay's "Jilla" in the state. "Veeram" and "Jilla" reportedly grossed over ₹7 crore on the opening day at the Tamil Nadu box office. "Jilla", which also had Mohanlal in the lead role, created a record in Kerala and became the highest day one grosser in the state by earning ₹2.62 crore.
"#Jilla - Grosses 2.62 Cr on day 1 (Jan 10) in Kerala from 211 screens. Highest single day gross for any film in the state," entertainment industry tracker Sreedhar Pillai tweeted.
On the other hand, "Veeram" did a decent business in Kerala but failed to beat "Jilla" collections in the state. Both the films lost some revenue as they clashed against each other at the box office.
With the release of "Kaththi", there will be huge expectations on the film's performance. It will be interesting to see if the film will be able to beat "Veeram" and "Jilla" first day collections, considering that the action thriller flick is releasing in more number of screens than those two films.
The five-day long weekend is likely to boost the film's collections at the box office.
