Rajinikanth's "Lingaa" may have received negative reviews from critics and performing below expectations in some circuits, but the Kollywood flick is doing good business at the box office in Tamil Nadu.
Yes, Rajinikanth starrer "Lingaa" has done brilliant business in entire Tamil Nadu and Chennai. Even on weekdays, business didn't dip much, given the negative word-of-mouth doing the rounds on the internet.
Traders say that it is Rajinikanth's popularity, which is pulling the audience to theatres. Not just his fans, but even general people are watching the film with families, ignoring negative reviews by critics and netizens.
The Tamil movie was released in 600 screens and the report till Wednesday (17 December) says that "Lingaa", which registered almost 95% occupancy in the state, has managed to draw 50% occupancy in Chennai in the week days and 45% occupancy in other key centres.
"Lingaa" has earned around ₹31+ crore in Tamil Nadu, of which ₹2.70 crore have been contributed by the Chennai circuit. In the next three days, the film has added another 7 crore to its tally to take the total collection to ₹38+ crore from the state.
According to exhibitors, "Lingaa" may not be up to the expected level, but surely it has not completely disappointed the audience either. The movie has all the ingredients that they love to see in a Rajini flick. So, the film has continued to draw the audience to theatres.
Also, makers of "Lingaa" have reduced the length of the film by some 10 minutes and this might work in favour of the film.
Meanwhile, there are reports that "Lingaa" has performing decently in Andhra Pradesh and Bangalore. But the worrying factor is Kerala where there is no sign of "Lingaa" recovering from the bad word-of-mouth.
"Lingaa" is directed by KS Ravikumar and produced by Rockline Venkatesh. It stars Rajinikanth, Sonakshi Sinha and Anushka Shetty in the lead roles.
