‘Ponniyin Selvan I’ Crosses $56 Million Worldwide

Mani Ratnam’s historic epic, the Indian film Ponniyin Selvan: I has grossed more than $56 million worldwide in three weeks, even as fresh releases from India saw collections way below expectations. Meanwhile, Ayushmann Khurrana-starrer Hindi film Doctor G released last week and has earned $2.6 million over the first week of its release in India.

The Hindi film marks the directorial debut of Anubhuti Kashyap and also stars Shefali Shah, Sheeba Chaddha and Rakul Preet Singh in important roles. Doctor G aims to highlight the gender biases in India, focusing on how male gynecologists are perceived and the struggles they face. However, it falls short of being a gem, mainly because of stereotypical attitude being presented as a progressive ones. There is not much to complain about the performances, but the film does not quite match up. It either has women interns in a hospital ganging up against the only man in their department or men spouting the biases they hold against women, as if they are entitled to the biases.

Ponniyin Selvan: I features Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Vikram, Trisha, Aishwarya Lekshmi and Karthi in lead roles. It released on September 30 and is the highest grossing Tamil film in USA, Australia, UK, Singapore and Malayasia, as per the producers. It is also the highest grossing Indian film in Malayasia. It ranked in Comscore’s top 10 list of worldwide grossers in the first two weekends since the release. The film grossed nearly $8.705 million worldwide in its first weekend and $40 million worldwide in the first week. Ponniyin Selvan I released across the globe on September 30 in five languages – Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam.

New Indian releases Tamil films Sardar and Prince have also scored well in the US markets. P.S. Mithran’s Sardar earned nearly $45,000 while Anudeep Kv’s Prince collected a little over $30,000 on Friday, October 21.

On the other hand, a small Kannada film – Kantara (made on an estimated budget of $2.5 million) – released on the same day (September 30) and has been gaining momentum ever since the release. Given the way audience lapped it up, the producers had to come up with the Hindi version of the film and release it two weeks later (October 14). Kantara has reportedly grossed nearly $25 million worldwide (all languages).

The Hindi version of the film alone collected $2.06 million in Indian markets over eight days of the release. Directed by Rishabh Shetty, the film captures the essence of folk culture from the region and depicts it in all glory. The Kannada film shows the rituals of Kambala and Bhootha Kola and is rooted in the region’s culture. It features spine chilling performance by Shetty, Kishore and Sapthamy Gowda.

Meanwhile, Pakistani film The Legend of Maula Jatt grossed $0.5 million in the US over the weekend ending October 16, as per the latest Comscore report. The film features Fawad Khan, Mahira Khan, Hamza Abbasi and Humaima Malick.